Big Beat UK
1997
The Fraternity Years
About This Album
Fraternity Years is the first Mouse & the Traps compilation of a truly official nature, taken right from the master tapes. The 25 tracks do miss a few of their least essential cuts, like the awful country novelty "Would You Believe," their mediocre final single for Bell, and the "Psychotic Reaction" single they recorded under the pseudonym of Positively 13 O'Clock. But everything else is here, with the neat bonuses of a 1967 single credited to another pseudonym (Chris St. John) and seven interesting, previously unreleased sides, including the moving folk-rock-protest number "Nobody Cares" and a you-gotta-hear-it-to-believe-it cover of "You Are My Sunshine" (set to the arrangement of James Brown's "I Got You"!). The lengthy liner notes present the best history of the group ever written, capping an excellent reissue of a fine band who were probably too chameleon-like to find their niche in the national market. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 and 19)

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