The Of Goes Epic at the Sea Monster Lounge in Seattle

By ANDREW FICKES

The small city of Roslyn up in the mountains to the East of Snoqualmie Pass is a charming, quaint pioneer town.

Of course if you watched very much TV in the 1990s, you'll also remember it as the setting of the hit series "Northern Exposure."

Of course, if you're familiar with the underbelly of the Nortwest music scene, you may know also know it as the home of the trippy, psychadelic/acid rock group The Of.

On Thursday, Aug. 25, Northwest Indie Music got a taste of what this quartet has to offer when it performed the classy whole-in-the-wall venue the Sea Monster Lounge along Seattle's NE 45th St.

What The Of represents is a celebration of the greatest pyschadelic/acid rock to come out of Britain and America the during the mid-1960s and early 1970s. Ala Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and the Experience, The Doors, and to a lesser extent, The Beatles.

Guitar maestro John Carey is the musical director for the group, producing the melodies and lyrics. Pat Nevin, haling from Leavenworth, is a tall, bony, rail thin, hippy that screams the amalgamation of every hippy lead singer known to man. He embodies the cockiness of Jim Morrison. And not too shabby of a voice, as far as never-ending meandering, non-linear blues rock goes.

In support of Carey and Nevin, the band is rounded out by Jim Morgan on drums and Ian Gray on bass guitar.

Gray is very impressive on bass. I say this because historically, Gray is known to many as a passionate folk and classical guitarist. He can go for an hour playing a solo classical piece. A good friend of mine, I've seen him work his magic on guitar. So, it was excting to see him shine on a different instrument.

I watched the first set by the group at the Sea Monster Lounge. They closed with a 15-minute or longer blues song filled with many riffs you'd typically find on a classic Led Zeppelin record. Gray even admitted later to lifting a Zeppelin lick.

The song also proved The Of to be one of the oddest acts around. Carey included in the song a spoken word version of Rocky Raccoon (even expanding on McCartney's original story) and each time the band slowed down and stopped, they began up again.

At one point, Carey said okay, let me do a gratuitous guitar solo. And he did! Turning up the volume. Revving the reverb to the max. Going over the top. It ended up being a perfect spoof on the most perfect stadium rock guitar solo!

The Of, quite simply, is EPIC! And No. 1, they're having fun. These four don't take themselves seriously. They're just up there having fun. And if they make a hit record, well, then so be it.

Check these guys out by searching "The Of" on Facebook. And look out for their debut album. They're recording it now in that town known for Northern Exposure.