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THE BEVIS
FROND - HORRORFUL HEIGHTS
(CD/2LP from
Fire Records; also available as a limited
edition 3LP, including HORRORFUL OFFAL, a
complete album of outtakes and demos)
Nick Saloman has
always been generous when it comes to entertaining
us with his Bevis Frond releases. Most of the
Frond’s back catalogue is graced with double albums
(or the occasional triple as is the case here with a
bonus disc of Saloman solo demos and full band
outtakes, none of which appear on the regular album,
making this special edition essential for fans and
completists). So settle back for over two hours of
vintage Frond head rattling, catchy, chart-worthy
pop, and the always insightful lyrics that actually
encourage you to think while listening to his
carefully constructed tunes. [A lyric sheet is
helpfully included.]
'A Mess Of Stress'
leaps out of the gate buoyed by a typically
barnstorming solo and melancholia settles the
pace down with the western-tinged 'Best Laid Plans'
and 'Momma Bear' featuring charming pedal steel
solos from Louis Wigget, a first on a Frond album I
believe? I like how 'Square House' picks up the pace
with a nasty little toe-dip into grungier territory,
six-strings a-blazing. The fast/slow dynamic
continues with the appropriately-titled 'Quietly'
featuring some prescient lyrics and then we reach
out first extended jam session with the album's
longest track 'Space Age Eyes.' Plenty of room for
Saloman and his sidekick Paul Simmons to flash their
soloing skills without getting sloppy or
over-indulgent. Fans of "the long ones" will be
drooling before we're even halfway through. (Nick's
daughter Debbie Wileman's harmony vocals add a
tender touch to the bombast.)
There're not many bass
solos in the Frond catalogue (Ade Shaw's opening to
'Stoned Train Driver' comes to mind), but his
recently deputised replacement Wigget is up to the
task as 'Naked Air' opens side 2. I think I hear a
little bit of Iggy's 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' in the
fade out! More fiery solos assure us the Frond has
not gone all soft on us!
The title track is all
sitars and tablas and patches of patchouli
reminiscent of Mr. Harrison seeking enlightenment
looking within and without his soul. There's a nice
medieval melody tossed in for good measure.
'Draining The Bad Blood Out' and 'That's Your Lot'
harken back to the "hit single" territory of 'Lights
Are Changing' or any number of selections from
New River Head, and 'Simple Pursuit' is a
molasses-slow crawl through a bluesy lament
bolstered by a Sisyphusian wall-of-guitars uphill
climb.
'Romany Blue' is
another pop charmer featuring one of Saloman's
tenderest vocals (think of 'Where The Old Boys Go'
and 'Could You Fly Higher'), but don't drift away
just yet, the seven-minute 'Mossbacks' Dream' whips
out the string-shredding machine for vintage
headbanging bacchanalia. Order is restored for
another acoustic ballad 'Buffaloed' with subtle
harmonies from Debbie, and 'Silver Insects' has one
of those druggy, dreamy Crazy Horse grooves that
decorates many of Neil Young's best efforts.
Old age and looking
back on a life's fateful decisions feature in a few
tracks - 'Sink Estate' with its worry about the
decision to move house ("It's not how we want to
live/but there's no alternative" - is there a touch
of autobiography here?) and most emphatically in
'That's Your Lot': "I don't know how long I've
got"), and closer 'King For A Day' goes out like a
lion, from Dave Pearce's drum intro through a funky
bass strut, and Saloman's rollercoaster melody and
self-deprecating lyric. You'll always be more than a
king for just a day in our book, Mr. Saloman!
(Jeff Penczak) |
