FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT

Every band going through a change of personnel goes through a serious crisis and a change in dynamic, especially when the exiting members were an important creative force. The crisis could be even more so for an act with a credible history and a string of albums. For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night, now with the returning David Sinclair who probably passed Richard Sinclair on the way, has more energy but lacks the progressive punch Caravan have been known for and the album does tend to have songs with a more direct rock slant rather than conjure up themes of old Caravan, ala In The Land Of Grey And Pink. The albums starts with the pacy and urgent "Memory Lane, Hugh Headloss" which merges into the equally solid "Hoedown", the first side of the album is consistent to a fault and by the second side tapers off and at a slow rate, so slow it is hard to explain or just simply decide if the album is any good at all! Most of the better songs can flatter to deceive, and while the addition of viola is a nice distraction and the inclusion of a Mike Ratlegde (Soft Machine) track a welcomed one For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night is in the main a passive affair with the odd inspired burst of inspired energy dragging the album to a stable condition.