THE 2ND OF MAY

This English powertrio is one of tightest rhythm and blues units of history, playing a mixture of heavy psych with progressive influences. May Blitz is one of the few band that manage to really get that hard rock style that is distinctively exciting, you know that good old Jimi Hendrix bad-ass sound. The drums of Tony Newman are exciting on every moment, one of the best of the era. The guitars of James Black sound cool and well played, but the production of the debut did more justice to his skills. Their heavy psych debut-album is perhaps more well known, but on this second album May Blitz is actually slightly more progressive - for it sees the band experimenting with folk, funk, metal and jazz textures. What I can't understand is the departure of that great reverb- rock sound to more dry recording sound that sounds a bit bleak in comparison with the debut. Also the vocals tended to sound better on their first record.

For Mad Men Only is a heavy metal opener with nice fierce vocals and screaming guitars. Snakes an Ladders adds some funk textures and sees de band finding back its psych rock feel in the middle section. The 25Th Of December 1969 is a folky ballad that is plagued by vocals that fall short, the album would have been better without this track. In Part is another heavy psych track with some great themes - to bad it ends with a drum solo. 8 Mad Grim Nits has a great drum and bass sound and a dirty guitar solo reminding us a bit of mister Robert Fripp. High Beech a fairly modern sounding folkrock track, with an acoustic guitar solo that reminds me a bit of Nirvana Unplugged. Honey Colored Time is Hendrix-like cool heavy rock track with a surprising jazzy interlude. Just Thinking is one of the few track I've ever heard that really reminded me of the sound of the German krautrock act Can, a nice atmospheric track.

Conclusions. May Blitz may be one of my favorite bands when it comes to the rhythmical playing and the awesome heavy psych feel. This album shows just how much potential the band had, though the production doesn't always do the band justice. There isn't much early heavy psych so if you like Captain Beyond, T2, Budgie and The Groundhogs you should defenitly get into May Blitz. Three and a halve stars.

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