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It becomes clear after listening to these demos, live cuts and auditions why Moby Grape was different from the hippie bands of San Francisco and Los Angeles. They were rock and pop purists still imbued with a raucous sock hop/surf fever amped until their rough licks also propelled them into a future of Big Stars and Replacements equally interested in concealing their rock ’n’ roll hearts under focused noise.
The legal and personal torments of Moby Grape have so dominated tellings of its story one almost forgets the music. These unpolished-yet-tight works-in-progress remind us that truly alternative art creates pain for its makers but it also delivers immortality.
