Mouse & The Traps
Album: The Fraternity Years
Label: Big Beat
Tracks: 25
Website: http://www.acerecords.com

This Texan outfit's claim to fame was releasing, in 1966, a single (A Public Execution) that in the eyes of many sounded more like Dylan than Dylan. Well at least in terms of sound - for Mouse himself (Ronnie Weiss) had both the vocal resemblance and the looks, and the rich organ-fuelled arrangement could've been lifted straight from the Blonde On Blonde album. But the lyrics, although alert and to the point, were made of more orthodox break-up sentiment. No matter, for the combination was a killer.

Mouse & The Traps went on to cut many more sides, proving their versatility and well-rounded musicianship (unusual for a Texas band in their day) across a gamut of styles yet never seeming to settle for long on any one. Equally adept at raunchy, riff-heavy punky R&B or more sophisticated folksy sunshine-pop, but for me scoring most with on one hand the harder-edge material such as the energy-tossed Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice and on the other hand pop-psych classics such as I Satisfy and the dreamy Requiem For Sarah, with the eastern-inflected 12-bar belter Lie, Beg, Borrow And Steal perched slap bang in the middle of the cultural cross-currents. Along with the determinedly more radio-friendly material such as ballad Sometimes You Just Can't Win and even an unrecognisably bluesy cover of You Are My Sunshine, all of those tracks crop up on this excellent-value collection, which anthologises (albeit in a frustratingly non-chronological fashion) the band's singles output on the Fraternity label.

Also included are seven previously unissued cuts, which range from the very reasonable (Hand In Hand) to the utterly disposable (Mohair Sam). Complete with a very fine booklet essay, this is a most worthwhile anthology. It's just been reissued (also in vinyl format), so now's the time to acquire a copy.

David Kidman