THE SHEEP RECORDS STORY #7: THE MEN FROM S.P.E.C.T.R.E. "REVENGE OF THE BLIND MAN" (1998)

Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.



The seventh Sheep Records release was the debut EP by The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. This 7" contains four tracks and is limited to 700 copies on green vinyl; it was released in April 1998.

On offer here on most tracks are an adrenalinic fuzz guitar and a persistent organ backed with a solid bass/drum rhythm section. "From Las Vegas With Love" is stuffed with an unsettling radio message, while the quieter "Le Vaccum" alternates lounge moments and acid riffs; in my opinion these are the best cuts.





Here's the track list and the personnel/credits list for this 7" single as they appear on the back cover:

01. Revenge of the Blind Man (2:30)
02. From Las Vegas With Love (2:22)
03. Le Vacuum (3:23)
04. Miniskirt (3:17)

Guitar: Gerry Germann
Bass: Rolf Keller
Organ: Mario Janser
Drums: Stefan Saurer

All songs written by The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

Cover by Rolf Keller

Recorded in 1998 at Spooky Sound

04.09.2015 Update: sorry guys, I recently received a DMCA complaint concerning another post I dedicated to The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E., download links are not available anymore...

The Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. have released three albums, the rest of their output on Sheep Records will be the subject of further posts in the future. Here's the group official biography as it appears on their own website:

The Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Winterthur, Switzerland) rush out of the speakers, straight through your living room, into your ears and move your pulse. The sound is fit for street races with perfectly tuned cars and at home in NASA promotional films. The rough edges and instrumental action sound echoes the space-rock-bands and soundtracks of the 70s. The catchy beat of Drums, Congas and Bass join the wild Hammond organ and fuzzy Guitar to mash-up the scenes.

"The Living Eye" is the third record of the S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s and released on American label Hammondbeat Records. "The Living Eye" is more indulgent, more psychedelic, and hits the beat harder than the previous records. The songs "Purple Pill People" and "Black Tank", along with earlier productions, have been released on internationally revered labels like Acid Jazz Records (UK).

The Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. have toured Italy, Spain, UK, Germany, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. The Swiss quintet will be on stage with "The Living Eye" ...heading for lots of trouble.

The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in their former four-members lineup, circa 1999-2000.

More information about Sheep Records and The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is available here:

http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://www.men-from-spectre.org

http://menfromspectre.bandcamp.com/

http://www.myspace.com/menfromspectre

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22men+from+s.p.e.c.t.r.e.%22

The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!