£13.99
The Cosmic Dropouts was formed in 1988 by Arne Thelin (vocals) and Morten Henriksen (guitar), and was together with The Willy B Review in the forefront of Norwegian garage rock. In addition to Arne and Morten, the band consisted of Pål Andreassen on organ, Carsten Johansen on bass (later replaced by Lars Albrecht and Stig Jøraholmen) and Elvin Sjursen on drums (later replaced by Rune Johnsen). This line-up recorded the band’s first release that year, a four-track vinyl 7“ EP titled Crashed Cadillac and Broken Hearts. It got good reviews in Norway and landed the band their first gigs. Their next release, an 8-track mini-album titled Groovy Things released in 1989, got raving reviews in Norway and abroad, and paved way for gigs at bigger venues and landed them their first and only gigs outside Norway with this line-up. They played at the New Music Seminar in New York that year in addition to a gig at The Khyber Pass pub in Philadelphia. Previous remotely started discussions with Skyclad Records continued in New York and resulted in this album’s original release. The mini-album and the EP together with their first single Let’s Go To The Beach (also released in 1989), plus a handful of songs recorded separately, were released as a full length album with the title Groovy Things by Skyclad Records in the US in 1990. By that time Arne had left the band (September 1989) and started The Lust-O-Rama, but the band continued with a new singer (Morten Karlsen) and released another two albums after that - Hoolabaloo on That’s Entertainment Records (1991) and Sonic Circus on Kicksville Records (1993). This re-issue was remastered December 2021.