Hard-Wired Other Review
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Well, the cover of this CD prepares me for what to expect – it's psychedelic go-go all the way, baby. And yes, suspicions are confirmed with "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon", well you can't more far-out than the image of a flying dog can you. An instrumental called "Border Ska" shimmies along nicely, followed by an idea that might cure violence and discontent: "Take The Skinheads Bowling". So this band obviously have their care-in-the-community leanings too, which is great. And - oh yes - a version of The Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men", which really does rock. Wow. After that, there's some minor-chord ska sounds in "Skinhead Stomp", which has echoes of The Specials, naturally, and drifts out after a couple of minutes. This band does like evoking the sound and atmosphere of other bands and genres – "ZZ Top Goes to Egypt" conjures up really quite bizarre images in my mind of the bearded ones, flying Vs in hand, playing some space-guitar rock, before drifting off into the star-studded cosmic ether. Or it could just be me...
"Sad Lovers Waltz" brings in some laid-back country sounds, the perfect accompaniment to that left-footed line-dancing championship. But just don't trip on the sleeping dog or the misshapen hay bale or Health and Safety will be called. And everyone's dream of escaping workaday life and reality as a whole get encapsulated in "When I Win The Lottery", a sad lament from Hicksville. Camper van Beethoven are definitely not stuck for ideas – moving from psychedelic prog-rock one moment, to ska or country the next, they're as versatile as a loaf of bread. |
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