Emerge

Emerge is a late-period look at Minneapolis' garage-rockers The Litter. By this point, Ray Melina had replaced previous guitarist Zippy Caplin and vocalist Mark Gallagher had replaced Denny Waite. The band had evolved a heavier sound that reflected the changing aesthetics and equipment available at the end of the '60s. The band still explored a few covers, including a wailing blues-rock take on Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" that ends with the band speeding it up into double time, plus an electrifying version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Little Red Book" that takes the version by Arthur Lee and Love and spits it out like a heavy metal band in training. Melina's "Breakfast at Gardenson's" evokes the British psychedelia of The Move and Cream. The 12-and-a-half-minute freakout "Future of the Past" is a pure period piece, complete with an extended drum solo. The bonus track "On Our Minds" is an excited tune that shows hints of the MC5 and didn't appear on the original album.