OLD BOOT WINE

Despite the surreal cover art, Old Boot Wine actually feels a bit less adventurous and progressive to me than either of the other two albums of Spirogyra's original run. Those who enjoy folk rock with progressive sensibilities will still find the material here to be of interest, Barbara Gaskin still charms on the microphone, and Martin Cockerham and Marc Francis' instrumental sparring is still a treat, but the proceedings feel rather sedate and tame compared to the more unpredictable St. Radigund's - there's no departures into not-quite- Comus spookness, for instance. Call it three and a half stars - add half a star if you really like 1970s British folk rock, subtract half a star if you're here for the prog side of the Spirogyra equation.