Week of July 6, 2003

Sex

Personnel:
Serge Gratton - drums, congas, xylophone, percussion
Yves Rousseau - guitar, vocals
Robert Trépanier - bass, harmonica, lead vocals
Pierre (Pedro) Ouellette - electric sax, flute 

Albums:
Sex (Trans-Canada TC 775) 1970 
The End Of My Life (Trans-Canada TC 785) 1971 
(also available on a 2 albums on 1 CD (Hipschaft ) 1997. The other album featured is Lectric Music Revolution.)

CD:
Sex/ The End Of My Life - Progressive Line, PL581, 2002

45s:
Not Yet/Come, Wake Up! (Trans-Canada 3399) 1970
The End Of My Life/I'm Starting My Life Today (Trans-Canada 3445) 1971

A French-Canadian band from Montreal, Quebec, whose lyrics are English. Both their albums are now rare. The first leans very much towards hard rock with sledgehammer drums, thundering rhythm, furious guitar leads and wasted vocals. There's some nice woodwind on 'Come, Wake Up!', some pleasant mouth harp on 'Try' and some fuzzy guitar on 'Night Symphony' and 'Love Is A Game'; but overall the menu's heavy-handed bluesy hard rock. The first 45 was culled from this album. All the material was penned by Gratton, Rousseau and Trépanier. The lyrics are very much in the spin of their name, particularly the final cut. For hard rockers only! 

Prior to their second album, Pierre Ouellette was added to the line-up. 'The End Of My Life' was more progressive than their first effort. The vocals are in the same wasted style as their first effort, but the instrumentation is usually more experimental and less heavy-handed. Their second 45 was taken from this album and probably comprised its best tracks.

Taken from "Dreams, Fantasies and Nightmares" by Vernon Joynson, an extensive guide to Canadian / Australian / New Zealand and Latin American psych and garage music 1963 - 1976.


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