The Chesterfield Kings led the psychedelic revival of the early 1980s that bands like Distorted Level has pioneered in the late Seventies with weird ditties like Hey Mister (1978). Formed in 1979 in Rochester (new York) by former Distorted Level singer, underground music journalist and avid record collector Greg Prevost with enfant prodige Andy Babiuk (16 years old at the time) and keyboardist Orest Guran the Chesterfield Kings offered an oleographic and overly nostalgic view of psychedelia. Not only did their repertory consist entirely of obscure covers, but the band also aimed at duplicating the look and feel of the garage-punk bands of the Sixties. Here Are (Bomp, 1982) was the album that contributed to starting the psychedelic revival of the 1980s.

Even when they started composing their own material, namely with She Told Me Lies and Cry Your Eyes Out on Stop (Mirror, 1985), their sound remained mostly inspired by the likes of the Chocolate Watchband.

Don't Open Til Doomsday (Mirror, 1987) is an uninspired and confused album that showed their limits as songwriters (Selfish Little Girl is one of the few exceptions).

Night Of The Living Eyes (Mirror, 1989) collects rarities and live tracks.

With the addition of blues guitarist Paul Rocco, The Berlin Wall of Sound (Mirror, 1990) adopted a much harder sound and displayed an arrogant, macho stance (Love Hate Revenge, Sick And Tired Of You). Coke Bottle Blues is an imitation of Howling Wolf, that preludes to Drunk On Muddy Water (Mirror, 1990), an album of blues covers.

After a long hiatus, the band resurfaced with Let's Go Get Stoned (Mirror, 1995), an amusing imitation of Rolling Stones classics. This was the beginning of a new career, focused on mimicking styles and musicians of the past.

Surfin' Rampage (Mirror, 1997) is an equally faithful tribute to surf music (32 songs).

Where The Action Is (Sundazed, 1999) marks a return to their garage-rock roots and a parallel retreat to the format of the cover (only four originals, including A Lovely Sort Of Death). Yoko (Velocette, 2003) is more subdued effort. The sound and the verve are probably their best, but the material is still mediocre or not theirs.

Mindbending Sounds (Sundazed, 2003) fulfills the trilogy of musical reconstruction with impeccable retro'-sounding melodies such as I Don't Understands, Non-Entity, Flashback. The arrangements are so baroque that they often evoke the Electric Prunes (Transparent Life, Disconnection). It also features a rare Jorma Kaukonen apparition on the two philosophical interludes: Mystery Trip and Death Is The Only Real Thing.