When listening to the Shaggs (the Wiggin sisters--Dorothy on lead guitar and vocals, Betty on rhythm guitar and vocals, Helen on drums), one needs to jettison conventional notions of song structure, what is "in tune" or not, even what constitutes suitable subject matter for a pop song ("My Pal Foot Foot," "Who Are Parents?"). Originally issued on a small, dodgy label in 1969, the guileless sounds of Philosophy cast a long shadow nonetheless; the group was one of Frank Zappa's favorites and their music inspired rock primitivists Beat Happening as well as sublime archivists NRBQ and Yo La Tengo. On Philosophy, the teenaged sisters' delirious, playfully constructed music has everything you least expect: loopy polyrhythms that follow no external law, off-kilter singing conducted in unison that sounds like the hit parade broadcast from Jupiter, and bizarre, elementary-school guitar playing. Best enjoyed in small doses, this enchanting, accidental music approximates the highly personal charms of so-called "outsider" visual art. To paraphrase a saccharine song of yore, the Shaggs' music is very beautiful--in its own way. --Mike McGonigal
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