Bare Bodkin

The Ophelias were a kind of classic of the form: the mid to late 1980s US rock band that thrived in an indie context specifically by wishing it was some kind of forever late 1960s UK trippy psychedelic pop art/proto-prog eternal moment. Led by Leslie Medford, who assembled this compilation for release on Independent Project in 2022, the Ophelias are well represented by Bare Bodkin, drawing on each of their three albums and a further handful of unreleased songs to provide a fine taster of their often excellent art. Many of said unreleased songs start the album, all proving to be quality enough that it’s a surprise they didn’t surface back then. (“Sleepy Hamlet” alone feels like an amazing theme song to an epic movie, while “The Golden Calf Played Rock’n’Roll,” with its alternately elfin and deeply dramatic vocals and trumpet parts amid the fuzz, is a lovely confection.) The older songs feel all the fresher here, whether it’s the massive stomp of “Holy Glow” or an engaging folky version of the classic “Mr. Rabbit.” (One other cover, the Kinks’s “Wicked Annabella,” is reclaimed from a 12” single release.)