Red Krayola, The Familiar Ugly – The Parable Of Arable Land

Released in 1967, The Parable of Arable Land is a mind-altering landmark of American underground psychedelia and one of the most radical debut albums of its era. Created by Texas-based art-rock provocateurs The Red Krayola (then spelled "Krayola") alongside a loose collective known as The Familiar Ugly, the album combines structured songs with chaotic "Free Form Freak-Outs"—wild, improvisational noise jams recorded live in the studio. It’s confrontational, uncommercial, and completely ahead of its time.

At its core, The Parable of Arable Land is a surreal manifesto—melding garage rock energy, dadaist humor, tape manipulation, and sonic chaos into something closer to performance art than rock. Songs like “Hurricane Fighter Plane” and “War Sucks” offer glimpses of warped songcraft, while the interspersed freak-outs (featuring dozens of musicians playing vacuum cleaners, radios, and other non-instruments) rupture any sense of normalcy. It’s not an easy listen, but it’s a fearless one—paving the way for no wave, noise rock, and avant-garde punk years ahead of schedule.

Reviews

“An uncompromising and visionary slab of noise-drenched psych that sounds like nothing else from 1967. The Parable of Arable Land isn’t just experimental—it’s anti-format, anti-authority, and gloriously unhinged.” – AllMusic

“More sonic assault than album, Red Krayola’s debut anticipated entire movements of art-rock and industrial noise. It’s anarchic, unfiltered creativity at its most audacious.” – The Wire

“While their contemporaries were trying to expand consciousness, Red Krayola seemed more interested in annihilating it. This record is a glorious mess, a Molotov cocktail lobbed into the Summer of Love.” – The Quietus

“A chaotic, defiant album that embraces failure, distortion, and absurdity. It’s groundbreaking because it rejects the very idea of ground—it floats, sputters, and explodes unpredictably.” – Mojo

“Psychedelia’s true subversive document. The Parable of Arable Land sounds like a party at the end of the world, and it still feels dangerous.” – Record Collector