Fraction: Moon Blood 1971

 

Heavy Psych mega monster of the best quality imaginable. This is a $2000 mega rarity. Their only album, Moon Blood, was an extremely limited 200 copy pressing. Physical copies were a rarity until the album’s re-release nearly forty years later, in 2010.
                                                                 
It's been said to be the album The Doors had wished they had recorded. If you take The Doors and a way wasted beyond belief Jim Morrisson sounding vocalist and some heavy duty amplification and a dark eerie vibe of say Iron Butterfly or Black Sabbaths debut you will be close to what this monster is all about. Strange apocalyptic lyrics (virtually indecipherable without the lyric sheet) that are not your typical Christian fare by any means.

There are very few albums in the psych/punk/hard rock/private presses strata that garner the sort of universal awe and accolades that Fraction’s almighty Moonblood LP does, and even fewer records in the world that could be dubbed ‘Christian Rock’ incur such fierce devotion. Indeed some records just meteorically lift themselves out any genre tag with brilliance and sheer defiance–and Moonblood is surely one of them.
                                                                         

Based in LA, Fraction was a ragged collection of working-class musicians–the line-up was ringleader Jim Beach–vocals; Don Swanson–lead guitar, Curt Swanson–drums, Victor Hemme–bass, and Robert Meinel–rhythm guitar. Beach himself describes those early days: “The guys met through various acquaintances that we had in LA. All of us had been in bands before, but were seeking something with more teeth. We had a small studio in an industrial complex in North Hollywood and started practicing sometimes as early as 4:30 AM. We all had day jobs, so we did what we could.” Amazingly the recording sessions for the album were recorded similarly on the fly, as Beach further states: “The Moonblood recording took place at Whitney’s Studio in Glendale, CA, early in 1971.
On a strict budget, these songs were recorded in less than three hours””all of them “one takes.” at the Whitney Recording Studio in Glendale California back in 1971, and released on a tiny Christian music label named Angelus. We played, all 5 of us, simultaneously– there were no studio effects, no overdubbing or any additional sound effects added. Basically what you hear is considered ‘old school’ recording.”
                                                                                

This workmanlike description in no way prepares one for the pure tortured genius the session wrought. Particularly noteworthy is Beach’s vocals””as commonly stated, the spirit of Jim Morrison is conjured in his deep baritone, which gives way to unparalleled pained howls, at times bathed in delay which trails into the abyss. Fascinatingly enough, Beach cites the much punker Love as his fave LA band over the Doors, and also gives influence-nods to proto-everything rockers The Yardbirds and to Dylan, whose dark word tapestries surely inspired Beach’s lyrics (though lines from The Doors’ “L’America” pop up on the LP) Whatever the case, the man clearly has a vision, as even the stark sleeve concept is Beach’s own.

Equally as integral to the Fraction sound is lead guitarist Don Swanson””his blown-out fuzz riffs set a template for what is now commonly known as “stoner rock” or “acid punk,” and his solos consist of jagged, wah-wah-ed shards of notes, with his amplifier clearly pushed to the limit.
Beach says: “Don’s guitar was always my driving force and he did everything he could to keep it over the top. You’d never know that (his sound) was coming from an old, broken down Esquire. Don kept it alive!”
The other members contributions shouldn’t be underappreciated though– drummer Curt Swanson keeps things at a constant simmer, and then boils over when the whole band launches into snarling glory. The band and LP as a whole equals something indescribably intense from start to finish””comparisons to the Detroit late 60s high-energy bands like The Stooges and MC5 abound, as well as the sort of late 60s damaged spirit lurking in biker clubs and disgruntled Vietnam vets. The song cycle on side 1 of the LP in particular cuts to the emotional core, with severely charged dark lyrics like “Extend your thumbs and burn the darkness out of her.”
                                                                   

                                                                                   
A few short years ago, if you had wanted to listen to this record you would have had to buy a poor quality bootleg or spend upwards of £1,000 for one of the 200 copies that comprised the entire original 1971 pressing.

LA-based Fraction were, in theory, a Christian-rock band, but,  they sound like some seriously deranged and dangerous people. Tapping the same wave of down-tuned, bleakly heavy, savage comedown psych that informed contemporaries like Black Sabbath and the Stooges, Fraction were a working-class group who would rehearse and record early in the morning before going to their day jobs. Thanks to that dedication there is a spacious sort of loneliness at the heart of the noise they make.
The five songs that made up the original album were recorded live in a single three-hour session with no FX and no overdubs – Come Out of Her is positively demonic (and includes a neat little two-bar breakbeat at 2:03). Singer Jim Beach's ragged growl has been likened to Jim Morrison, but there's a desperation and anxiety present here that the handsome, wealthy son of a senior navy officer never had, while guitarist Don Swanson pushes the wah-wah and fuzz to the limit. Moon Blood is a brilliantly odd record, a snapshot of a time where Jesus-freak hippies could still remember what it felt like to have some angry toxins flooding through your brain. Naturally, the band never got anywhere and for decades barely anyone, bar the most obsessed, got to hear them. Until, happily, now.
                                                             

1971 was surely a post-hippie year packed of new exciting musical directions, a melting-pot of genres where standing shoulder to shoulder with the best bands was a real challenge; and this album shows how broad the range of this beautiful cauldron was. The dense, mystical atmosphere has more in common with a hazy psychedelic dusk than with the moon that gives the album its title. Abstract Christian lyrics scattered throughout the songs guarantee an even deeper aura of mystery to the whole experience. The acid guitar permeates the entire work, dropping lines of venom, poignancy and sorrow. The counterpoint are the vocals of Jim Beach, the true trademark of this band’s sound. His style is immediately recognizable. Soulful and gravely, yet comforting and at times touching peaks of (drug-fueled?) madness. A solid rhythm section (bass, drums and rhythm guitar) completes the lineup.
                                                                        

“The dense, mystical atmosphere has more in common with a hazy psychedelic dusk than with the moon that gives the album its title.”  A masterpiece of dark psychedelia!
Five tracks. Five timeless behemoths that seem to come from an ancient past when music was made purely to enrich the soul.

A driving melancholy opens up the album on “Sanc Divided”, with stripped down guitars setting the mood. And as the mojo of the song grows a whirlwind of fuzz comes in mercilessly.
The second song “Come Out Of Her” has Beach pouring his soul into the music through his soaring vocals. A wah-wah solo takes the listener on a ride on the psychedelic wave until the end of the song. Magic!
Clocking at almost nine minutes “Eye Of The Hurricane” is arguably the magnus opus on this platter. A post-apocalyptic burned out jam with blissful guitar work and rare intensity.
“Sons Come To Birth” is the softer track of the album, a ballad that has all the dynamics perfectly set. The psychedelic undertones are dripping from every riff and together with the driving bass lead us into a groove that sets the stage for some inspired improvisation.
“This Bird” and “Sky High”, that merge one into the other, close the album. Here we find the band dealing with a spoken-word/ poetry section in Doors’ style; a high point of the album that climaxes with an explosion of high-octane rock and roll. Before the final fade-out we hear the band steaming out one last acid freakout with full-force guitar soloing and wailing vocals.
                                                              

This album will have you coming back for more, a mastodontic work of art that deserves underground cult record status. Far out!

The band had a small studio in North Hollywood industrial complex where they would jam at all different times as all the members were working stiffs and all had day jobs. The band entered Whitney Studios early in 1971 and being on a strict budget the band recorded Moon Blood in three hours with no overdubs or any other studio effects. Basically a live studio recording.
                                                                        

Moon Blood is a heavy climate of spooky stoner rock, acid psych and proto-punk casts Beach's Morrison screaming, howlin' vocals and Arthur Lee(Love) inspired possessed punk-raunch style with Swanson's fuzz-drenched riffs, wah-wahed and jagged solos are the driving force of the album with the high energy stomp of the MC5 and The Stooges with quasi-Christian lyrical references.

In the summer of 1970, the band entered a studio and cut their only album, Moon Blood. Only 200 copies of this little psychedelic masterpiece were ever pressed, making it over the years a mega-rarity going for ridiculous sums of money. This 1999 reissue brings this fuzz and reverb festival onto compact disc for the first time and features three bonus tracks of previously unissued origin, "Prisms," "Dawning Light," and "Intercessor's Blues." Vocally, Jim Beach works the Jim Morrison side of the street while the band works the standard riffs of the era into a fuzz overloaded stomp that sounds like a perfect period piece. Lovers of fuzz-drenched psychedelia will go crazy over this one.
                                                                       

It’s no surprise that this LP is considered by many the Holy Grail of heavy psychedelic rock.

MEMBERS

Jim Beach – vocals
Don Swanson – lead guitar
Curt Swanson – drums
Victor Hemme – bass  
Robert Meinel – rhythm guitar

TRACKS

01. Sanc-Divided     3:42
02. Come Out Of Her     4:50
03. Eye Of The Hurricane     8:42
04. Sons Come To Birth     5:17
05. This Bird (Sky High)     8:08

Flac  Size: 194 MB (From the CD)
Wav Size: 643 MB ( From the Vinyl Album)

SANC - DIVIDED     LYRICS

Thinking of the sanc-divided
Thoughts I have today
Wondering when the Spirit moves me
If I will obey
If I will obey

I can hear the death surrounding
All of his prey
Are my thoughts for real
Must I live in what I feel
Live in what I feel

Living in what we've received
Impartial who might say
Choose widely, counselors of Zion
Wisely as you pay

Put His gifts above the Earth
Without dismay
Can you love His name
Will you cast away your fame
Cast away your fame

Choose widely, counselors of Zion
Wisely as you pay

Put His gifts above the Earth
Without dismay
Can you love His name
Will you cast away your fame
Cast away your fame