Hawkwind - Sonic Attack
#500
By Tom Mott
October 18 1981
Hawkwind
Sonic Attack
Genre: Dalek Convoy
Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Tom’s Rating: 3.14159
Highlights:
Sonic Attack
Imagine Star Trek with only Captain Kirk.
Spock is missing. Bones got fed up.
Uhura and Sulu have been given their own ships.
Scotty died in the Romulan Wars.
Chekov just vanished.
Now it's just Kirk in his girdle and a bunch of red shirts.
Would it still be compelling viewing? Probably.
Would it be the best season? Nope.
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IN CASE OF SONIC ATTACK ON YOUR DISTRICT
FOLLOW THESE RULES!
Small babies may be placed inside the special cocoons
Do not panic [DO NOT PANIC]
Kitsch space-camp? Sure. But not much different than
"This is a public service announcement. WITH GUITARS." (The Clash)
Different context, different pedigree.
Not a good sign that the opener is a remake from their 1973 album though.
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In my view, we expect psychedelic music to either be a twee bit of "Hello Mister Bumblee, have a cuppa tea with me" (cue bicycle bell), or its first cousin, the rainy day mushroom pillow. Otherwise, we want Doppler-laden space trucking. Anything else takes too much time to unpack.
So, if you're a sucker for the Middle 37 of Whole Lotta Love, zooming past giant space cheetahs, avoiding The Chosen Ones, and descending through the gel locks of the interdimensional Giant Tree Stump to visit the Mud Planet of the Space Druids who operate the XYZ Hyperspeed Engine through their telepathic tribal dancing ((c) 1996 Tom Mott & Thaddeus Couldron. All rights reserved.), there's only cure: HAWKWIND!
This album follows the by-the-books recipe for space rock:
Lock into a pulsing or throbbing groove.
Wash with a layer of noodling synths.
Run voices through distortion effects.
Beat in the dystopian themes until well-blended.
Sprinkle with some sci-fi/fantasy references.
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Dave Brock still knows how to make a Hawkwind album.
Translation: I'll take this over The Final Cut or Radio K.A.O.S.
And he's got a compelling, veddy British voice.
But Robert Calvert and Nik Turner are gone.
And the wonderful experiment with Ginger Baker has derailed.
[I imagine Mister Baker pulling a gun and breaking some things.]
So it's Dave Brock and a bunch of stand-ins throbbing on.
Sometimes it sounds like Terry Riley flickered into material form to provide a synth loop and then vanished again, lost in the Inter-Dimensions.
It's the most METAL of the Hawkwind albums, which is fine,
but gets a little Spinal Tappy at times.
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"No, it’s not the best Hawkwind album available. But if you’re a fan and want to hear a Hawkwind album, this will do just fine, thank you very much. Space is Hawkwind. Hawkwind is space." -- AllMusic fan review
In the hands of different producer, Living on a Knife Edge, could be a Starship or Bon Jovi song. That's fine. Not the direction I want to see Hawkwind heading.
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I really, really, really wanted the bonus track DEVILISH DURGE to be a highlight. But nope. No urge in that durge.
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Final verdict: No surprises, stick with their previous albums or hits.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5HvNfQKngAIvrxi5g6wqR6?si=yuyYNAW3RCeeoDq9w-uRag
