4 out of 5 Stars!

On the debut album from Frijid Pink, a long-forgotten band from Detroit, the “Motor City”/Michigan influence truly shows, especially when it comes to the blues-based Hard Rock style on display.

The band seemed to follow a similar starting template as other popular Hard Rock acts to arise from the same general area of the USA, including The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, and perhaps even MC5 (although definitely not quite as blisteringly loud or frantic as the latter). Nevertheless, tunes such as “Crying Shame,” “Tell Me Why,” “I Want To Be Your Lover,” “Drivin’ Blues,” “End of the Line,” and the catchy opener “God Gave Me You” are liberally sprinkled with shredding riffs, a fuzzy psychedelic guitar tone, frantic “Keith Moon-esque” drumming, and a rowdy and rebellious (almost proto-punk…or dare I say “proto-PINK”?) atmosphere. And one additional highlight of the album is the band’s cover of the classic “House of the Rising Sun,” which, to me, is far superior to the Animals’ version. Yes, this is “Garage Rock” at its sometimes-sloppy, occasionally rough, yet riotous finest.

Too bad Frijid Pink never gained the same lasting recognition as the other Michigan bands that emerged during the same era, since this album and the subsequent two releases—Defrosted (1970) and Earth Omen (1972)—are all nearly forgotten gems of Heavy Psych Rock.

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