WE'LL GIVE YOU A BUZZ

Where Dragon left off when they left NZ, Think continued - this album reminds me so much of Dragon's Universal Radio. Like that album, it has it's roots in the organ-driven early British prog sounds of groups like Cressida etc, but also with a strong Beatles influence (particularly evident in the vocal harmonies of tracks like "Look What i've Done".) Generally it's prog-lite: laid-back, fairly straightofrward harmonically, only occasionally challenging rhythmically, and the longer pieces that exist are mostly extended jams - so an enjoyable listen, but not a hugely challenging one.

But again like Dragon, they also had one foot in the antipodean pub rock scene - that side of their personality given full reign in "Rippoff", a fairly straight-ahead rocker (although I too can hear the parallels with early Birth Control, in the guitar/keyboard harmonised riffs). That relative disappointment aside, this side of their musical personality finds expression in a somewhat more aggressive electric guitar sound than one would usually hear in bands of this kind.

Moments that lift the album for me:

- "Light Title", which manages to pack an amazing amount of contrast into quite a short running time, while remaining very accessible.

- The opening section of "Stringless Provider", which raises hopes that the band might stray into more symphonic territory, before the band settles into jamming over a shuffling groove and two sunny major chords for the most of the remaining ten minutes - having said that, it's a very enjoyable jam, just not the epic that one might have expected from the opening of the piece.

- "Big Ladies" - even though it's arguably the poppiest track, it's a nice laid-back groove with some enjoyable organ playing.

- The organ solo on final track "Our Children", which again brings a more symphonic influence to the fore. The keyboards are excellent throughout the album, but this track goes up a level