HAWKLORDS: 25 YEARS ON

"The Hawklords ? 25 Years On" has the dubious distinction of sporting an album cover that looks like a deodorant advertisement, complete with underarm roll on. All kidding aside this is an odorous album any way you look at it. Calvert absolutely dominates and sounds like an imitation of early Bryan Ferry with Roxy Music; 'Virginia Plain' comes to mind. The title track may be the worst thing that the Hawkwind machine spawned, the idiot brother of 'Silver Machine' at least in terms of the chord structure, and with awful vocals, think Public Image Ltd, and don't get me started on those repetitive whispers. The lead break is okay but not enough to salvage this mess. Why can't the band just stop plagiarising itself and come up with something original?

However, as with all Hawkwind albums, there are some tracks worth listening to. Of particular note is the terrific 'Psi Power', especially the melodic chorus; "I can read your mind like a magazine", and "I get all the secrets". The production is crisp and makes this a standout, particularly the musicianship, acoustics, percussion and that great synth solo. The ending with all the mathematical quadrations or whatever they are is fairly effective.

'Free Fall' takes us into ambient solar winds and synth soaked spaciness. Calvert has a decent vocal style here similar to Brock; "All you need to do is take one step into the sky". A dirty guitar riff locks in with some effective chords. There is a trademark feel to this too like early 70s Hawkwind, making it another highlight.

'Automotion' is a 1 minute transition like most transitions it just fills in a gap but the synths are quite a nice sound. 'Flying Doctor' has a choppy riff which is okay but has some awful Aussie accents, yes we can sound like that but talk about stereotyping to the Nth degree. The relentless riffing is the best thing about it, but it's ruined by the over indulgent vocals. It is obviously a homage to the Australian TV series "Flying Doctors", and I never liked that either, so this one is best avoided. And my oath, that kangaroo bouncing sound is just plain offensive. For those who think that kangas bounce all around the outback, guess again. Anyway, I think it is different enough to stand out, but all for the wrong reasons. And the repeated phrase "cabinet key" does not do it any favours either. Oh well, moving right along.

'The only ones' is next, with lyrics sounding like hippies at a free form festival celebrating their new found freedom. Surely this is one of Hawklords in jokes. It certainly sounds it, but in any case, unfortunately this is a terrible track marring an already mediocre album.

Next is '(Only) The dead dreams of the cold war kid' that has a nice title. The music is moderate cadence and dull, with repeated phrases and dreary music. 'The age of the micro man' closes the album with a better track, very slow in tempo but the vocals are okay from Brock. Thus folks we have the absolute worst album of the Hawkwind project, with one decent salvagable track 'Psi Power'. Thank heavens the band changed their name so that Hawkwind could not be associated with such trash.