Buried Treasure - Beau Brummels 'Triangle'

There are loads of albums that get the 'lost masterpiece' tag. Many have gone on to achieve great notoriety and belated success. One LP that is ALWAYS overlooked is the stunning Triangle from the magnificent Beau Brummels.

The Beau Brummels often creep into critics top lost greats lists, but it tends to be Bradley's Barn that shows up. As fabulous as Bradley's Barn is, it doesn't hold a candle to the masterful work of Triangle.

Starting of as a garage band, the Brummels created a quieter racket than most, but hidden hidden in the faux Stones riffs and Beatle harmonies was one of the greatest voices - and greatest songwriters - in American rock'n'roll...

Sal Valentino, head honcho in the Brummel camp creates incredible sketches with his words whilst backed with luscious strings, dustbowl Americana banjos and mandolins, folky guitar pickings and psychedelic guitars and rhythms. Perhaps the main reason that Triangle didn't capture the attention of the American public is that they were so far ahead of the game that people just couldn't take it all in.

The Keeper Of Time, the standout track on this cracking LP, features so many ideas knitted into one that it's overwhelming. Valentino voice resembles Gene Clark of The Byrds... but superior in tone and emotion. As the song rollicks along, you take a trip through country, psych and pure unadulterated pop. It's deceptively complex. On the surface, it sounds like a great chart topper, but in there, you'll find mariachi horns, strings, intertwining guitars and a fuck load more. The album opener, Are You Happy? sees folk and country coming together beautifully, with sophisticated chord shifts and a completely life affirming chorus. Yet, for all this clever clever stuff, it never takes its eyes off the main purpose... and that is to create well crafted, stunning pop music.

At the time, Triangle was compared to "Randy Newman, Ray Davies and Van Dykes Parks" (c/o Crawdaddy magazine) and has since been referred to as "the album that astonished everyone and blew a million minds!" If only they'd sold a million copies... that way, America could have made a star of one of rock'n'roll's greatest tunesmiths. The fact that this LP was released in 1967 is both its triumph and curse. The band fused traditional country and folk with a grand psychedelia that was too much for the luddites still digging simple beat music (not that there's anything wrong with being a luddite and digging simple beat music).

Why Forever Changes became a cult favourite and Triangle didn't is a complete mystery to this reviewer. Magic Hollow, all ethereal beauty, accordions, harpsichords, orchestrations and far-out lyrics is hands down, more beautiful than anything from the pen of Arthur Lee. Yep. You read that right. Magic Hollow is a superb piece of music that will send you off into your own little world before gently breaking your heart. It's an astounding track.

Triangle is an album that outstrips all those posturing pinkos that thought they'd discovered the future of music by turning the amps up full tilt. Whilst I have an endless enthusiasm for snotty garage bands, The Beau Brummels show that, when you apply craft and sensitivity to wild rock'n'roll, you can create the most incredible music to ever grace an ear. If you own a brain and working ears, there is no way you can live happily without Triangle in your collection. If you buy this, you'll wonder why there aren't more albums like it. Well, that's when you pick up a copy of the awesome Bradley's Barn. Genius is bandied around far too often these days, but with this killer couple of LPs, Sal Valentino and Co certainly deserve such lofty praise.

Click here to buy The Beau Brummels' Triangle (and if you're smart, you'll want Bradley's Barn whilst you're at it... click here to buy)