Though not as manically inspired as their label mates The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, nor as unrepentantly eccentric as The Red Krayola, The Bubble Puppy were perhaps the most pop oriented act on Austin’s legendary International Artists label. While their more experimentally minded labelmates were exploring the weirder reaches of the American musical tradition, The Bubble Puppy had their eyes firmly fixed on the distant English scene, recording songs that mirrored the progressive psychedelia of acts like Cream and The Move. The harmonized twin guitar leads and multi-part song structures of “Hot Smoke and Sassafras” arguably anticipate some of the more sophisticated developments of the glam era including the playful art-rock of Roxy music and the audacious showmanship of Thin Lizzy. The misleadingly titled Selected Favorites in fact compiles the group’s complete recorded output, and includes the entirety of A Gathering Of Promises as well as a brace of rare bonus material previously available only on vinyl.