Spiny Normen is a prog-psych hard rock band from Houston that existed almost solely within a few years in the late 1970s. Fronted by then 19 year old Steve Brudinak, Spiny Normen recorded their only album at a community college in 1978, originally to be part a part of a “Brown Acid” compilation series. Spiny Normen was left unreleased until one single was discovered, and it was thus decided that the rest of the project would be released as well. What Spiny Nomen did with Spiny Normen samples a different direction rock music could have gone in, and presents what Brudinak believes was “both ahead of and behind the times”.
The band’s self-titled eight track record, Spiny Normen, is rugged, densely atmospheric, and drenched in an aptly named “brown acid” feel. Our favorite track on the record, “The Bell Park Loon” was the initial single that would lead to the rest of this projects unearthing. The song is an immediately explosive dance adventure, propelled by amazing flutes and guitar riffs. A little reminiscent of The Doors, the music feels contained but still quite far out. The opening track, “Arrowhead”, has a riff to start the track that sounds like “Paint It Black”, but melting, and accompanied by muddy far out vocals, clashing drums, and wild keys to create a distorted wall of sound.
There are plenty of off the wall moments on Spiny Normen, and possibly the grandest take from the band would be the closer, “The Sound of Younger Times”, an eight minute track that trides along with trippy flutes, high pitched keys, and ghoulish vocals. The song “Wrecko Wild Man Ride” is similarly a psychedelic buffet with shining keys and drowning vocals, under stomping riffs and mad organs, plus, an ambient, scattered, and spooky atmosphere filled with dark bells and plucky guitars. Continuing a wild, almost haunted trip of a theme, “To Meet The Mad Hatter”, is a curious track with reverb vocals and an even more layered, haunting soundscape. The track “Carry Your Water” has more defined prog riffs, with familiar psych vocals, and a fun “woo woo” refrain to end the song.
The story of Spiny Normen is one of experimental teenage youth, influenced by King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and some bad acid trips. With a Vox Jaguar that belonged to Fever Tree, one of the original psych bands, Steve and his crew of friends and hired players would create Spiny Normen, which is as Steve Brudinak put it, “…still, to this day, in my humble opinion, some very complex, untouched territory.” Spiny Normen is a fascinating lost relic of 70s psych rock, with almost each track having never seen the light of day prior to this release.
