The Cyrkle: Neon (1967) MONO CL 2632

Folk Pop band The Cyrkle hit it big in 1966 with the Paul Simon penned "Red Rubber Ball" and also had a minor hit with another tune, "Turn Down Day". The band's first album featured those two singles and a mix of more jangly folk pop tunes and frat rock. It was a bit of a mixed bag as only a handful of tracks really stand out.

But they really improved the quality of their material on their second and final album Neon, released on Columbia records in 1967. The folk pop sound is still there, but the sunshiney-ness of their debut record is now replaced with darker, slightly psychedelic undertones, especially on the hypnotic psych-folk tunes "I Wish You Could Be Here" and "Don't Cry, No Fears..." and the gorgeously mellow, bossanova inflected "The Visit". But, songs like the band original "Weight of Your Words" and their cover of the Beatle's "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" still retain that jangle that made the band a hit a year prior to this. There's a great rendition of a Burt Bacharach tune "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", originally performed by Ricky Nelson, but the Cyrkle turn in a more subtle and grooving version of this great jazzy folk song. The highlight of the album for me is the final track, "I'm Not Sure What I Wanna Do", a bouncy little psych-pop tune with great farfisa organ work and a galloping rhythm track. A really fun album and one of the better lost psych-pop records from the era.

The version I'm presenting you with here is the rare mono mix, ripped by me from an original vinyl copy pressed in '67. The mono mix is pretty different from the stereo mix in that it offers substantially more clarity and the rhythm section is much more prominent in the mix, giving it that classic mono punch. Since the mono version has been out of print for years, I figured I'd share it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?iq265xjhmr4c8ma

Converted from the .WAV files by dbpoweramp using LAME 3.97 into 320 VBR. Enjoy.

-Casey