The Inner Mystiques

Recently, Greek blog That’s Cool, That’s Trash shared a set of demos by The Inner Mystiques. I’m not sure if they have ever been publicly available before, but it’s a crime that these songs have never been properly released or recorded. George Rigas who is the owner of the blog used to play in The Walking Screams, and along with the drummer he subsequently joined The Inner Mystiques. The band was started by John Alexopoulos of The Sound Explosion, and he’s pictured above during that band’s prime time (image courtesy of Flower Bomb Songs, who have posted a five-part feature about their early history).

The Sound Explosion was Greece’s first garage revival group, whose only album was part of the seminal Teen Trash series on Music Maniac. But these songs, demo’ed in 2000, outshines their entire output. Without relying on cover version, John’s 9 compostions easily match the best of Chesterfields Kings early originals, with a simple sound centered around a 12-string Vox. The vocals too, would give Greg Provost a run for his money. With a name derived from The Chocolate Watchband, a more suitable reference would be The JuJus or other teenpunk 60’s groups.

Check out the frenetic “It Was a Rainy Night” below, and be sure to get hold of the whole set here. Also, an interview with John, originally published in the Lost In Tyme magazine, where both of his groups are discussed is posted on Perfect Sound Forever.