There are reissue labels that play it safe — licensing obvious catalogue titles, pressing them on coloured vinyl, and moving on. And then there is Guerssen.
The Barcelona-based label has spent over two decades doing something genuinely difficult: finding the rarest, most extraordinary psychedelic and garage recordings from around the world — obscure British acid folk, lost American psych, forgotten Turkish rock, Filipino garage, German krautrock — and pressing them onto vinyl with the care and attention they always deserved but rarely received. The result is one of the most consistently surprising and rewarding catalogues in the reissue market.
We stock over 130 Guerssen titles, including releases on their Sommor and Out-Sider sublabels. This piece is an introduction to the label and some of the highlights from the range.
What Guerssen Does
Guerssen's mission is archaeological. The label's founders are obsessive collectors who have spent years tracking down original pressings, locating surviving band members, clearing rights, and licensing recordings that in many cases had never been reissued at all. The catalogue is a direct reflection of their taste — deep, eclectic, and consistently excellent.
The label operates several imprints, each with a distinct focus:
- Guerssen — The main label, covering the full range of psych, garage, and underground rock from the 1960s and 1970s. Catalogue numbers prefixed GUESS.
- Sommor — Focused on heavier, more progressive material — proto-metal, hard rock, and the darker end of the psych spectrum. Catalogue numbers prefixed SOMM.
- Out-Sider — The most experimental imprint, covering outsider music, library recordings, and genuinely strange sounds from the margins of the 1960s and 1970s underground. Catalogue numbers prefixed OSR.
Releases are typically pressed on heavyweight vinyl with high-quality sleeve reproduction, often including liner notes that provide historical context for recordings that have been out of circulation for decades. Many titles appear in limited coloured vinyl or picture disc variants.
The Artists: A Global Underground
Wicked Lady
The British proto-metal band Wicked Lady are one of the most celebrated artists in the Guerssen catalogue, and their story is one of the great lost chapters in British rock history. Formed in Northampton in the early 1970s, they recorded prolifically but released almost nothing during their lifetime — their recordings circulated only on cassette among a small circle of devotees. Guerssen's reissues, including the A Wicked Selection... by Martin Weaver picture disc (GUESS170) and the Run the Night / I'm a Freak 7-inch, have brought their extraordinary heavy psych to a global audience for the first time. Essential.
Bronco Bullfrog
Not to be confused with the 1970 British film of the same name, Bronco Bullfrog were a hard psych outfit whose recordings sat unreleased for decades. The Guerssen double LP collects their essential work and is one of the most in-demand titles in the range — heavy, raw, and completely unlike anything that was being officially released at the time.
Irish Coffee
A Belgian hard rock and psych band from the early 1970s, Irish Coffee recorded one of the great lost European rock albums — a record that was pressed in tiny quantities and disappeared almost immediately. The Guerssen reissue is the definitive way to hear it, and it's a record that rewards repeated listening.
Morgen
An American psych rock band from the late 1960s, Morgen released one self-titled album on Probe Records in 1969 that sank without trace on release but has since been recognised as one of the finest American psych albums of the era. The Guerssen reissue makes it accessible again at a fraction of the price of an original.
Haymarket Square
Magic Lantern (GUESS183) is one of the most sought-after titles in the Guerssen catalogue — a late 1960s American psych album of extraordinary quality that was pressed in minuscule quantities on original release. The Guerssen reissue is the only realistic way most collectors will ever own it.
Barış Manço
The Turkish rock legend is one of the most internationally significant artists in the Guerssen catalogue. Manço's recordings from the late 1960s and early 1970s fuse Western psych and rock with Turkish folk music in a way that sounds completely unique — and completely contemporary. The Guerssen picture disc reissue (GUESS173) is a beautiful object as well as a remarkable record.
Dakila
Filipino psych rock from the early 1970s — available on both LP and CD — Dakila are one of the most striking examples of Guerssen's genuinely global reach. This is music that was completely inaccessible to collectors outside the Philippines until Guerssen's reissue, and it's extraordinary.
Necronomicon
Tips Zum Selbstmord is a German proto-metal and psych record from the early 1970s that has long been a holy grail for collectors of the heavier end of the Krautrock spectrum. The Guerssen reissue makes it available again without the four-figure price tag of an original.
Further Highlights
The catalogue extends to Optic Nerve (Forever and a Day and Lotta Nerve), Top Drawer (Solid Oak, available on both LP and CD), Action (Rolled Gold on gold vinyl), RJ & the Riots, Crystalline, Please (1968·1969), Noah (Brain Suck, expanded edition double LP), Grit, United States of Existence, and many more — each one a genuine discovery.
The Sommor Imprint
Sommor focuses on the heavier end of the spectrum — proto-metal, hard rock, and progressive music from the early 1970s. Titles like Plebb's Yes It Isn't It (SOMM062) and Stone Harbour's Emerges (on the Out-Sider imprint, OSR087) represent the label at its most uncompromising. If you're a fan of early Black Sabbath, Pentagram, or the darker end of British psych, the Sommor catalogue is essential territory.
Why Guerssen Matters
In a reissue market increasingly dominated by obvious catalogue titles and cynical coloured vinyl cash-ins, Guerssen stands apart. Every release represents genuine research, genuine passion, and a genuine commitment to music that would otherwise remain inaccessible. The label has introduced thousands of collectors to artists they would never have encountered through any other route.
The other thing worth noting is value. Many of the original pressings of these records — when they exist at all — command prices that put them out of reach of most collectors. Guerssen's reissues are pressed to a high standard and priced accessibly, making them the definitive way to own this music for the vast majority of people who care about it.
Collecting Guerssen: What to Know
- Limited pressings — Many Guerssen titles are pressed in small quantities and don't get repressed. If you see a title you want, act on it.
- Three imprints — Guerssen (GUESS), Sommor (SOMM), and Out-Sider (OSR) each have a distinct character. It's worth exploring all three.
- Coloured and picture disc variants — Several titles appear in special editions. The Wicked Lady picture disc and the Barış Manço picture disc are among the most striking in the range.
- Liner notes matter — Guerssen releases typically include detailed historical notes that add real context to the recordings. Worth reading.
- Stock is updated regularly — We add new Guerssen titles as they're released and source earlier pressings where we can.
Browse our full Guerssen stock — search guerssen on our site to see everything currently available, including Sommor and Out-Sider releases.