The Matadors were a Czechoslovakian beat group best known for their song “Get Down From The Tree,” which featured on the Nuggets II boxset. Never one of the leading lights of the mid-’60s European rock scene, the group had a few things working for them, as evidenced by this twenty-four song collection. Guitarist Radim Hladik’s stinging fuzz-tone is enjoyable and their keyboard player does a nice job of straddling the line between frat-band slop-rock chords and Floyd-esque psychedelic texturing. On the flip-side, The Matadors didn’t have a formidable songwriter in the group, and singer Vladimir Misik’s thick Czech accent, tenuous grasp on the English language (there’s a song titled “Hate Everything Except Of Hatter”) and tendency to over-sing, are all serious detriments. He’s unconvincing as a sleazy blues-growler on a cover of Willie Dixon’s “You’ll Be Mine,” and his attempts to sound like Eric Burdon fall well short of the mark. If you’re an obsessive garage/psych collector type, there’s probably nothing I can say to stop you from picking this up; but for those with a little more quality control, everything you need from The Matadors can be found on Nuggets II.
Midnight To Six 