The Abstracts - The Abstracts (1968)
What little we know about this quartet comes off of the liner notes on their first (and only) album …
Keyboardist Henri Dondini, guitarist Tony (Antonio) Peluso and bassist Pierre Vigeant formed The Abstracts while attending high school in Los Angeles. Playing school dances, they added drummer Michael Thatcher to the lineup after seeing him win an L. A. “battle of the drums” contest. As a quartet the band began working clubs throughout Southern California and Texas, eventually attracting the attention of Atlantic Records.
One of the first (and last) acts signed to Atlantic’s short-lived Pompeii subsidiary, the band’s self-titled 1970 debut teamed them with producers Darrell Glenn and David Anderson. With Peluso handling lead vocals and writing the majority of the material (he was credited with 8 of 12 tracks), “The Abstracts” offered up a weird hybrid sounding like Association-styled MOR crossed with ARS Nova styled Baroque-psych. Yeah, we know it sounds odd. Exemplified by Peluso-penned material such as “Rich Young Heir”, “O. D.D. Clown” and “Matter of Life and Death”, the deep, thoughtful (aka pompous) lyrics were certain to have appealed to closet intellectuals.
The album was also notable for including the year’s oddest Gershwin cover (“Summertime”). In spite of those comments, the set wasn’t a complete waste. Peluso tended to over sing, but he had a decent voice and on songs with strong melodies, notably “See the Birds” and “Smell of Incense” the band proved quite listenable. Unfortunately, nobody was listening; the album quickly vanishing into oblivion, followed in quick order by the band. (RDTEN1 RYM)
Tracklist:
1. To Say The Least
2. Results Of Love
3. The Rich Young Heir
4. O.d.d. Clown
5. A Smell Of Incense
6. Summertime
7. See The Birdies
8. Any Old Dream
9. Dreaming Of Blue
10. A Matter Of Life And Death
11. My Mind Ain't Peculiar
12. Time To Understand 2:331.