PSYCLONE RANGERS: I Wanna Be Jack Kennedy

ALL MUSIC GUIDE: The Psyclone Rangers, from Allentown, PA, released a vastly underrated debut album, Feel Nice, in 1993 under the guidance of two powerful Daves: Dave Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy, who produced the Rangers’ debut, and Dave Allen of Low Pop Suicide and chief at World Domination Music Group. A The lineup includes Jonathan Valania on vocals, Scot Dantzer on guitar, P.R. Behler on bass, and Jamie Knerr on drums. Upon first listen, The Psyclone Rangers’ Feel Nice sounds a bit like The Pixies circa Doolittle, but after a few more spins, the disc reveals obvious influences hailing back to the ’60s, including The Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, Stooges, and the Velvet Underground. But Feel Nice sounds inherently ’90s — absolutely no revivalism here, but ferocious post-punk appraisals of the 1960s. The Psyclone Rangers are intelligent pop songwriters who rip through pop culture icons, but even though these guys are clever, Feel Nice is decidedly not condescending, and it definitely rocks in the classic sense of the word. MORE