Nicro · 1974
A record cut in someone's living room in 1974. Nobody knew. Very few still do.
1974. British psychedelic folk has already yielded its major fruits — Nick Drake has just finished not being heard, Comus published First Utterance three years earlier to near-total silence, and three boys from Surrey of whom we know almost nothing — Ed, Stan and Rich — record fourteen tracks in mono on a tiny label called Nicro, catalogue number K 240574. The pressing is private, the run is in the dozens of copies, the distribution is nonexistent. Supernatural Girl disappears into nothing — and stays there for twenty years, until the most stubborn collectors of the obscure folk circuit begin pulling it from their pockets like an ace.
The first thing one hears placing this record on the turntable is the silence that is not silence: a background hiss that is not a defect but an atmosphere, like hearing music through a wall. Ferris Wheel's acoustic guitars carry that specific quality of records made without a professional sound engineer — every note breathes more than usual, every mistake left in place not from laziness but from a kind of cosmic honesty. Flowers opens Side A with an arpeggio built on three chords chosen for their fragility: the voice enters quietly, almost stealthily. The Mermaid and the title track Ferris Wheel are the two peaks.
The original Nicro pressing is today one of the rarest records in the global folk collector market. On Discogs, the median price exceeds $800 with documented peaks above $13,000. The Guerssen reissue — the first-ever vinyl reissue, with original artwork and remastering — is the honest point of access: it maintains the original's granular texture without pretending to be something it is not.
Supernatural Girl is not a record one recommends to everyone. It is a record one finds, almost by accident, at a moment when enough music has been crossed that one understands certain records are not made to be listened to — they are made to be inhabited.
Not for everyone — and that is precisely the point. An unrepeatable sonic object that sounds as if it were recorded inside a dream.
Supernatural Girl on Vinyl — Which Pressing?
K 240574 (1974). Run of a few dozen copies. Median price >$800 on Discogs, peaks above $13,000
First ever vinyl reissue. Original artwork, honest remastering. €15–20
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How much is an original Nicro pressing worth?
On Discogs the median price exceeds $800, with documented peaks above $13,000 for excellent copies. It is one of the rarest folk private pressings in the world. The Guerssen reissue is the access point for those who can't compete at those prices.
Where can I find the vinyl reissue?
The Guerssen reissue is available directly from Guerssen's website and on Discogs. Approximate price: €15-20. Even this tends to sell out quickly.
Who are Ed, Stan and Rich of Ferris Wheel?
Almost nothing is known about them. No biography, no documented interviews, no traceable subsequent career. The record exists, the music is real, the rest is silence.
