Rolled Gold

Just as the Small Faces had branched out from the creatively restricting mod sound with their celebrated concept album Odgen’s Nut Gone Flake, 1967 found The Action on the same page. But the tunes that comprise Rolled Gold were shelved and cloistered from the world until their unearthing in 2002. The Action recorded these sketches for Beatles’ manager George Martin before disbanding, so he probably wasn’t too keen on spending money to release demos by a defunct group that also never had a radio hit. But over three decades later, these powerful songs have aged with enough style and grace for Rolled Gold to be considered a lost classic. Mixing heated passion with the blossoming wisdom of young manhood, Reggie King sings with a naturally confident swagger and inquisitive honesty in “Something To Say.” The anthemic “Brain” flirts with psychedelic guitars under a commanding melody where King begs to not be forgotten. “Icarus” strengthens the wings of the mythological namesake with progressive freakbeat brilliance.