With their first live album, Salem’s Pot pull from their last couple of albums, along with a single and a split, for five tracks of their heady, doom-drenched psychedelic rock. Playing freely with the tracks (the song pulled from the single, “Ego Trip”, is extended to more than twice its original run-time), the band brings more than a little jam flavor to its performance, which also leads to some interesting song transitions, like the harmonica linkage between “Pink Flamingos” and “Creep Purple”.
Despite the improvisations and elaborations that crop up, the band keeps the songs grounded with their hooky melodies and loaded riffs, and the intensification shown in the crescendos and other escalations is where the live renditions really show their fun. With the songs averaging out at about eight minutes each, there’s a good amount of material here, but it also suggests that the band could have easily put on a show of twice the length without flagging in their tranced-out heavy psych energy. Both a treat for fans and a strong intro point.
Scrambled Brains 