Simon Finn's folk-psych curio Pass The Distance resurfaces

Simon Finn's cult corker Pass The Distance is being reissued by Superior Viaduct on November 23.

Few albums define a genre as succinctly as Simon Finn's Pass The Distance does for psychedelic folk. Not even landmark recordings by Pearls Before Swine or Skip Spence can stand up to the sheer madness of Finn's sole LP, originally released in 1970.

After moving to London in 1967, Finn busked around town for a couple years before entering Camden's Chalk Farm Studios, best known for producing a string of reggae hits. Pass The Distance, however, would become more than a solo-acoustic project.

Backed by free-improvisation innovators David Toop and Paul Burwell, Finn's dark, personal songs unravel lysergically over 40 minutes. Toop's sinewy electric guitar and Burwell's broad percussive palette lift up Finn's ardent strumming and snarling vocals, making this one wild ride in catharsis, introspection and raw merriment.

As Finn tells journalist Dave Segal in an interview for this vinyl reissue, "The songs were about alienation and loneliness. 'Jerusalem' came to me in one shot. I wrote it on mescaline and was playing it over and over and one of my flatmates wrote it down."

Pass The Distance remains a "cult record" in the best sense of the term, possessing a hypnotic beauty all its own. Pre-order a copy via Superior Viaduct right here.

Check out the video of Simon Finn performing the songs of Pass The Distance with  Maja Elliott and Joolie Wood  from Current 93 following the track listing below.

Simon Finn - Pass The Distance (Antarctica Starts Here)
Very Close Friend
The Courtyard
What A Day
Fades (Pass The Distance)
Jerusalem
Where's Your Master Gone
Laughing 'Til Tomorrow
Hiawatha
Patrice
Big White Car