The name Marble Sheep doesn’t reverberate too much in the States. And really, I dunno if it’s all that important of a moniker to folks anywhere. One should assume, though, that in its native Japan, Marble Sheep are something of an underground stalwart having been on the scene during three different decades. But even if that wasn’t the case, the fact that head sheep herder Ken Matsutani founded and runs Captain Trip Records should keep the name in the mind of intrepid psych fanatics.

Captain Trip, while releasing some heady stuff in the form of the Deviants back catalog, the label too has shined up some turds – I’m thinking of some lackluster, live Blue Cheer sets. But regardless of what the label does Matsutani and his band are still able to rev up a psych like no other and are just now heading out on tour with Chicago’s Plastic Crimewave Sound.

Prompted, perhaps, by its appearances in the States, let’s take a quick look back at the first two releases from these JapPsych dudes.

The group’s first long player, recorded in ’87, is culled from various live performances and studio demos. Resultantly, Old From New Heads isn’t anything near a focused effort. But in that very fact, Marble Sheep is then able to exercise a few different approaches to rock and or roll. Not each is successful in a traditional sense, but even the most noisome offering comes off as a well wrought piece of music – whether or not it was composed prior to its performance is really secondary to the end product.

The twelve minutes of “Space Earth Calling” only briefly revel in any melodic figure. Instead most of the time Marble Sheep seeks a way to wrench some odd sounds and tones outta its instruments. It works occasionally. But it’s when the group launches into a simple progression that the song gains any sort of traction or urgency. By the end of the track, though, it’s more than clear that Marble Sheep are able to move in and out of various downer rock styles.

Closing the disc out is the twenty minute “Cement Woman.” It’s all things dirgey and excellent in its execution at times even coping a bit of QMS guitar sound. But on Marble Sheep’s second album, where “Cement Woman” is broken into two parts, the song has a bit of its vitriol removed and replaced with some staid Germanic rock affinities.

Elsewhere on the group’s self titled, second long player, “Flying Hay (Like A Bird)” approaches something of an average rock track. It’s still good and spacey at times, but in contrast to earlier work the track’s almost a throw away. Of course, considering the fact that Marble Sheep surpass most modern psych acts, even the tossed off recordings come in kinda hot – well, ok, lukewarm.

Getting too far beyond these late ‘80s albums, listeners are likely to find more and more fey work from the group. That’s not good or bad, it’s just what happened to Marble Sheep.