Heart and Mind (album)

Sister Double Happiness broke up after releasing its 1988 debut album. Frontman Gary Floyd spent two years at a Hindu monastery before reforming the band, which right away attracted the attention of major record labels.[7]

Produced by Kevin Laffey, the album was recorded at Record II Studios, in Comptche, California.[8][9] Danny Roman joined the band on guitar after the recording sessions.[10]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Chicago Sun-Times	[11]

Spin called the album "uncomplicated, love-obsessed, heavy blues-rock, untouched by the stylistic and technical developments of the last 15 years."[12] The San Francisco Chronicle thought that "Floyd brings a well-developed sense of melodics to an otherwise highly charged sound and his round, warm voice gives the lyrics a surprising resonance."[10]

The Chicago Sun-Times opined that Heart and Mind finds Floyd "exploring more inward terrain in a voice that sounds like Roky Erickson sitting on a washing machine during the spin cycle ... Floyd has a powerful vibrato that backs up his unflinching sentiments."[11] UPI concluded that it "presents the neo-psychedelic foursome of Lynn Perko, Ben Cohen, Jeff Palmer and Gary Floyd—former Buddhist monk and front for Austin, Texas, punk band The Dicks—in a dozen original cuts that slice and smear the spectrum like a palette knife."[13]

AllMusic wrote that "the major problem is the production by Kevin Laffey; it takes the bite and power out of the guitars and pushes singer Gary Floyd too far above the mix."[8] SF Weekly deemed the album "an anesthetized version of the band's punk-meets-blues concept—perfect for fans of both Husker Du and Led Zeppelin."[14] The Austin Chronicle called it "a mess, thudding like late-Eighties Heart crossed with .38 Special, and absolutely no clue where in the mix to position Floyd, who seems to be singing outside in the hallway."[5]