Many factors came together to make 2016 the happy first year of the Brewsalas, but one significant influence should not be overlooked: namely that of the psychedelic British Invasion band the Zombies.
Probably everyone in the western world has heard “Time of the Season”, the song that at least lately puts the Zombies on the map. And aside a smattering of hit singles in the mid-sixties before that, one could be forgiven for assuming they were a one-hit-wonder. But due as much to my insatiable quest for new-to-me recordings as a truly serendipitous if otherwise unworkable housing configuration in 2012, that year I discovered the profoundly underappreciated 1968 opus of the Zombies: Odessey and Oracle.
A highlight of late-sixties baroque pop, Odessey and Oracle is as much a marvel today as it was when it was new nearly fifty years ago. Having just happened upon a gem of this stature in December 2012, I wasn’t done bragging about the find in March 2013 when Yana and I met. We both fell in love with the album and were overjoyed to see the Zombies perform at Bumbershoot that summer!