Plenty of bands put out compilations of their A sides. Trust Danish psych-soul-rock kings Baby Woodrose to turn the practice on its head and issue one exclusively of B sides, but it should be no shock as they’ve been carving their own swathe since the 2001.
Baby Woodrose might be the best band you’ve never heard of. The progeny of Lorenzo Woodrose, then drummer for a band called On Trial and originally a side project top indulge his taste for all things acid punk. A win in Denmark’s national music awards followed. Lorenzo put his membership of On Trial on ice and hasn’t looked back since. He plays lead guitar and sings. Baby Woodrose is one of the few Danish bands to have opened and closed the world-renowned Roskillde Festival in the same year.
B sides are too often overlooked but provide the chance for a band to explore a dark recess of their own music or take a different tack with no concession to commercialism. There’s nothing second rate about this collection of 14 songs, many of them impossibly rare or out-of-print. They run from fuzzy soaked grooves (“I Feel High”, “Making My Time”) to beat guitar overdoses (“Bubblegum”) and strident rockers (“Good Day To Die.”)
The three covers include a top shelf rendition of The Troggs’ “6654321” which will give you an idea of the direction Baby Woodrose are coming from. It preserves the tub thumping, brooding menace of the original. Props also to the bare bones take on “That’s How Strong My Love Is.”
There’s also an original stone classic in “Coming Around Again” and a couple of others (“Light Up Your Mind” and “Long Way Down”) that are almost as great. The latter features some wildly snaking guitar that’s worth the price of admission on its own.
It’s probably coincidental but this collection tones down the tripper aspects of Baby Woodrose’s music and goes for the throat. On that basis alone it will be a great starting point for the uninitiated. The converts will take the trip anyway.
