Her comes do it yourself man Doug Tuttle third time around as a solo artist and offers us his Peace Potato. Hot potato or not, right off, it is a very tasty one indeed. After quitting his band MMOSS that barely few people heard off, Tuttle decided to not only go solo but do everything solo, including all the instruments. Guitars, keyboards, drums, you name it. Such a move always demands not only courage but knowledge, and it seems Tuttle has both. He also holds on to a recent tradition with melodic pop DIY-ers and that is keeping the tunes as brief as possible, some here barely reach the half minute mark. At some points, he simply grinds to a halt or gives you a snippet of a melody, letting you longing for more. Again, something that really requires both courage and knowledge.
What is obvious from the first listen of this album is that Tuttle has an exquisite sense of melody and exactly how much he needs to present it to his listeners without overstaying his welcome. What is also the case is that he has incorporated all those psychedelic pop greats he is obviously fond of so well that you need to press yourself hard to identify them (if that is what you really need to do) - a certain Mr. George Harrison and Andy Partridge (of XTC) do come to mind in flashes, but then Tuttle doesn’t really give you the time or the reason to do that because he just nudges you to listen to music he has come up with.
And if you fancy good psychedelic pop you wouldn’t want to miss this one. It is like one of those maverick second half of the Sixties solo projects that went on for decades that somebody just re-discovered and remastered for your pleasure. And pleasure it is.
