The 1980 Listening Post - Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station 

#337

by Jon Rosenberg

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band

Doc at the Radar Station

Genre: Captain Beefheart

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Jon’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Highlights:  Hot Head

A Carrot Is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond

Dirty Blue Gene

Making Love to a Vampire With a Monkey on My Knee

Captain Beefheart is an acquired taste.  His music is… weird.  Idiosyncratic may be a better word for it.  Is he playing rock, jazz, blues, avant-garde experimental whatnot?  Yes, all of the above.  Often at the same time.   He sounds like a Martian doing a Howlin’ Wolf impression at the bottom of the sea.  In other words, not for everyone.

Many people consider the Captain’s third album, 1969’s Frank Zappa-produced “Trout Mask Replica” to be his magnum opus.  For me, it’s barely listenable.  I mean, I get what he’s trying to do, and I can appreciate it on an intellectual level, and maybe it is a work of genius.  But I much prefer to listen to Beefheart’s mid-70’s attempts at commercial success with the far more accessible albums “The Spotlight Kid” and “Clear Spot.”  I may also be one of the only people out there who really digs Beefheart’s stab at pop music on “Unconditionally Guaranteed” and “Bluejeans & Moonbeams.”

“Doc at the Radar Station” (don’t ask me what that title means) is a late-career return to form.  That is, it slides comfortably between the extremes.  I’m assuming at this point the Captain had zero fucks left to give about selling records and just wanted to make art.  In fact, after this, he recorded one more equally unique album, 1982’s “Ice Cream for Crow,” then retired from music and became a painter full time.

Whether or not you’ll like this album depends on your tolerance for cacophony.  If you dig free jazz by guys like Albert Ayler or John Coltrane’s later work, if you can get into surreal, Beat-influenced lyrics, give it a shot.  But don’t say you weren’t warned!

https://open.spotify.com/album/6JyNWU5OrHs00ayVrY896l?si=Sh1HDBCiR1OrUjOdqLEOLw