SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

As the years go by, the prog-rock reissues get ever more obscure. Having already remastered a mass of classic and not-so-classic albums from the glory days of progressive-and-psychedelic rock, Mark Powell's otherwise excellent Esoteric Recordings imprint here offers up the debut album from British outfit Spontaneous Combustion. Released in 1972 and produced by none other than Greg Lake(King Crimson, ELP), this self-tiled affair unfortunately belongs in the 'obscure for a reason' category. A short-lived trio featuring drummer Tony Brock and brothers Tristen and Gary Margetts on bass and guitar respectively - they share the vocal duties - Spontaneous Combustion blend jerky guitar riffs, odd psych-pop time signatures and a slightly arty sensibility into a sound that resolutely fails to cook up any memorable tunes. Technically, the threesome obviously have their talents, yet despite the undoubted instrumental proficiency showcased across this album's six lengthy tracks, there's a palpable lack of melodic invention. The real problem, however, is the fact that the group's sound falls flat somewhere slap bang between the worlds of post-sixties psychedelia and jazz-tinged guitar prog. The overall sound then is thin, under-produced, overly-metallic, unattractive and not helped by the absence of keyboards. A sadly uninspired slab of needlessly flashy proto-prog(Greg Lake really should know better) there is very little to recommend on this Spontaneous Combustion of musical creativity. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012