Going Up - The Very Best of the 13th Floor Elevators

iTunes Review

Music historians credit Austin, Texas’ 13th Floor Elevators for creating psychedelic rock. Before the San Francisco scene was tuning in, turning on and dropping out, The Elevators revealed a dark and frightening side of psychedelia that wasn’t all good trips and white rabbits. Featuring songs recorded between 1966 and 1969 for International Artists, Going Up is a stellar collection for newcomers, devotees, and Roky Erickson fans alike. It kicks off with “You’re Going To Miss Me,” the band’s best known single that lent its title to a 2005 documentary on Erickson. An edited “Slip Inside This House” follows with the frantic percolations of Tommy Hall’s electric jug (yes, he attached a pickup to a whiskey jug). The tune inspired Primal Scream to cover an electronic version on 1991’s Screamadelica (and should inspire others to seek out the eight minute original). A live take of garage staple “Gloria” shows the band’s ferocity in a public setting. Stacy Sutherland’s trademark Texas style of psyche-guitar owes much to surf but he also bares country roots on a haunting rendition of the old timey standard “May The Circle Remain Unbroken.”