LARRY YOUNG'S FUEL

Of the three strange solo albums that Larry Young put out in the 70s, Fuel is probably the least successful. It's not a terrible album, but not great either. There are two cuts that feature Larry's always unique take on instrumental progressive rock, one cut that is an outstanding minimalist polyrhythmic electro-funk pressure cooker and four funk/jazz numbers that feature vocalist Laura Logan. It's the four vocal numbers that drag the album down. Laura is a good vocalist in a nasal NYC jazz style sort of way, but when you combine that style of singing with the band's hyper jazz/funk grooves, the result makes the band sound like a happy hour combo in 1970s Harlem or Manhattan. These songs aren't particularly bad, I just expect better from Larry Young. The final cut on the album finally pushes things too far when Larry adds his 'vocals' that sound like a cross between Count Chocula and Fred Schneider of the B-52s. His bizarre urban beatnik lyrics are funny the first time you hear them, but don't hold up to repeat listens at all.

As usual with Young during this period, the prog-rock numbers, as well as almost the whole rest of the album, feature very raw and upfront unfiltered analog synthesizers. Larry was very unique in this respect in that his synthesizers still sounded like 60s synth novelty records well into the 70s. I could see this album as an acid jazz DJ's dream mystery disc with it's wealth of bizarre instrumentals and weird obscure hyper funk. I like this album, but I like almost anything by Larry Young. His personal and almost naïve take on any genre is always refreshing and curiously fascinating even when the results are uneven as they are on this album.