Amplifier review of "My Name Is Tom" 

In 1991, The Jigsaw Seen released their sophomore effort, My Name Is Tom, reaping a significant amount of critical acclaim and even some suggestion that the band was the heir apparent to L.A.’s pop vanguard. Sadly, the album disappeared without a trace two years later, never to resurface. Now reissued and expanded into a full-length, ten-track album, it seems in retrospect to have provided some sort of missing link between the brooding baroque stylings of Arthur Lee’s Love and Love’s paisley pop descendents such as the Rain Parade and the Three O’Clock. Certainly, the band’s preoccupation with Anglo influences and shimmering psychedelia was all too evident, from the piercing delivery of “Warehouse The Wicked” and the raga rock stance of the title track, to a soaring take on the cocktail lounge standard “The Best Is Yet To Come.” There are some unexpected moments in-between; the buzz saw surf instrumental “Murder At The Luau,” the jaunty Monty Python-esque “Eight Lancashire Lads” and the tangled folkish narrative “Black Aggie” all suggest the Jigsaws gather their pieces from a variety of sources. Nevertheless, the most telling entry comes in the form of their faithful cover of Love’s “The Daily Planet.” If influences are any indication, The Jigsaw Seen should be heard. – LEE ZIMMERMAN

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