The Hardtimes

Formed in San Diego but based in Los Angeles for much of their brief career, the Hard Times were a second-division, mid-'60s Southern Californian rock band that played folk-rock, sunshine pop, soft rock, and early psychedelia on their sole LP and a handful of 45s without developing a consistent or original sound. There were plenty of bands like that, of course, and perhaps the blanket assessment of the previous sentence is a tad harsh. The Hard Times were among the better such back-of-the-pack trailers, writing much of their material, and doing some decent tracks, particularly...