Moby Grape, WOW (side A)

Renewed interest in Moby Grape seems to have followed in part from a rediscovery of Skip Spence's Oar.  His diminished involvement on WOW leads to it receiving less attention than the first LP, and this is partly justified—the debut was the group's classic.  1968's WOW also included both gimmicks (a song where Spence sings over a found instrumental track that was cut at 78 at the end of side A) and bad ideas (an unnecessary re-recording of "Naked if I Want to").  Past the weird filler, there are a lot of great songs here.  The singing and playing remain great, and the creative string and horn arrangements add interesting character.  The low-end comes through amazingly on my pressing, and the gatefold cover painting looks more weird than dated.