MAY BLITZ

MAY BLITZ were a hurricane-force English/Canadian power trio. They recorded two albums of storming Psychedelic Rock in the early 1970's. Their first album "May Blitz" (1970), released on the renowned Vertigo label, features arguably one of the worst album covers in rock history, but you can't judge an album by its cover, so let's hope the cover is no reflection of the music contained within. The second May Blitz album, the aptly-titled "2nd of May" (1971), would be their final studio album as the trio disbanded shortly afterwards in late 1971 due to lack of commercial success and two of the band members returned to their native Canada. A retrospective Live album was released in 2012, featuring a concert recording from Essen, Germany in 1970. And so, without further ado, it's time to load up the arsenal and unleash the musical blitzkrieg of fire and fury that is May Blitz.

"Smoking the Day Away" opens the album in a swirling 8-minute-long purple haze of wispy psychedelic smoke. It's a heady and intoxicating flower-power acid trip that takes you right back to those wild and crazy, hazy lazy days of summer in San Francisco in 1967, without ever having to leave the comfort of your front room. These three guys in May Blitz have probably never been anywhere near San Francisco either, but you'd never guess that from this acid-drenched psychedelic trip. They sound like they were born to be wild within sight of the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge. They're probably in their rocking chairs by now though - if they're still around - bearing in mind this album was recorded back in a distant bygone age, half a century ago. You can almost picture yourself riding on the back of Peter Fonda's Easy Rider motorcycle whilst listening to this music, even if the sad reality is that you're more suited to riding 'round in the back of Henry Fonda's family station wagon. I don't Know about you, but I'm in the mood for some heavy Blues-Rock, and that's exactly what you get with the second song, "I Don't Know", a mean and mighty blues number, bringing to mind classic Cream, only this band sound even more raw and earthy than the Rock God power trio of Clapton, Bruce & Baker, if that's at all possible. This bluesy music is probably more similar in style to the other well-known heavy British blues trio, The Edgar Broughton Band. Our third song "Dreaming" opens as a laid-back acid-tinged excursion into a dreamy Twilight Zone world of transcendental meditation, where the hazy-voiced singer sounds like he's stoned out of his mind. Don't get too laid-back though, because the music soon goes off the rails completely - a bit like this album review - and takes us on a harum scarum wild phantasmagoric nightmare ride along the highway to hell and back, followed by a return to calmer restorative climes for the mellow flower-power peace and love conclusion. This is wonderfully heady stuff and the glorious highlight of the album so far. After "Dreaming", it's time now to wake up and smell the coffee and get ready for Side Two.

We may need to delve into the lyrics of the mysteriously-titled "Squeet" to find out what it's all about, so here goes:- "Squeet, All over a wall, Dying to have a ball, It's been too long, I feel, I feel it coming on, Squeet, all over the wall." ..... No, it still makes no sense whatsoever, but who says hazy, acid-influenced Psychedelic Rock has to make any sense anyway!? One thing's for sure, it's a real storming humdinger of a song, despite the crazy lyrics being like a riddle wrapped inside an enigma. This great song represents a perfect example of early 1970's psychedelic stoner rock long before Stoner Rock with a capital "S" had even been invented. After the wonderfully dreamy (and occasionally nightmarish) excursion of "Dreaming" on Side One, along comes "Tomorrow May Come", another hazy lazy fantasy ride aboard the brightly-painted magic bus. You can really chill out and relax to this moody and mellow music, so just close your eyes and be transported back in time to the late-1960's hippy- trail along the magnificent Golden Gate highway of dreams - and you don't even need a bus ticket to travel there. FIRE IN THE HOLE! Take cover, because it's time now for the fiery sonic outburst of "Fire Queen", a fast and furious blazing trail of Psychedelic Rock which explodes into life like a grenade and then bombs along relentlessly at full steam ahead for four solid minutes. Sensational! What we need now after that supersonic assault on the eardrums is a return to calmer seas, and that's precisely what we get with "Virgin Waters". Prepare to sail away and let the calming music wash over you in a blissful sea of dreams for this wonderful trip back in time to the psychedelic sixties. It's groovy, baby!

May Blitz have delivered a storming blitzkrieg of heavy Psychedelic Rock with this superb debut album. It's not ALL heavy and thunderous Rock though, as the album's sprinkled with a nice liberal helping of laid-back trippy tunes too. All in all, there's enough variety on offer here to keep everyone entertained, even if you're not a flower-power child of the sixties.