Fuzzy Duck - "Fuzzy Duck" (1971)

Fast-paced cult classic still puts on a progtasticly good, if hard to follow, show.

Fuzzy Duck's only album has become a cult icon for many, with copies on Amazon exceeding five hundred pounds in worth. Fronted by Andromeda's Mick Hawksworth, they are considered by some to be as crucial as The Pretty Things or any Canterbury band in the proto-prog movement.

The album has two shining stars in Emerson-like organist Roy Sharland and almost metallic drummer Paul Francis. Time Will Be Your Doctor opens with the line " I don't see it, I don't feel it coming on". Apt words, as this is the instant reaction of a new listener trying to grasp Fuzzy Duck's appeal, right before the track transforms from bland wannabe funk into a truely 13th Floor Elevators kind of trip. It becomes a lot like the music to a chase scene from Scooby Doo, albeit with the potential repercussions of a severe bangover. Funk remains on a roll through Just Look Around You, which comes off as a young Highway Star. Afternoon Out is a lovely, hand clapping psych anthem, while the hummable wa-wa of More Than I Am is reminiscent of Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride.

One negative trait of the album is its being a rehash of the same fast paced ballyrips; one needs variety in an album, especially in the progressive rock genre. However, this should not draw away from the album's strength: high voltage power prog which beckons you to ride the yue-dye mechanical bull. An album you must listen to, but not all at once.

For fans of: Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Top tracks: Time Will Be Your Doctor, Afternoon Out, Country Boy

Rating: 8.6/10

Dada - "Dada" (1970)

What was Elkie Brooks doing before she got famous? Making surrealist jazz fusion. Obviously. 

 It's strange to see Elkie Brookes, colloquially dubbed the "Mancunian Cilla", comfortable in any other zone than the husky MOR lounge of top ten hits like Pearl's A Singer and Don't Cry Out Loud. Still, it's always interesting to see the projects musicians were up to before they made it big on their own (I may well review Attila's only album one of these days). As for this collective, the name "Dada" gives all away; these are surrealist fusioners who clearly grew up listening to Freak Out and Trout Mask Replica, looking at Miro and Dali and watching the films of Luis Bunuel. 

Throughout the album, Brooks shares vocals with a skilled falsetto male. Contrary to popular belief, it's not Robert Palmer but Singaporean songwriter Paul Korda. Opener Big Dipper converts seemlessly from Beefheart clangs to Joplin soul and back again, before leading on into an insane organ solo reminiscent of Deep Purple's Wring That Neck. The band manages to turn Stones classic The Last Time into a disjointed blues epic. Throughout most of the album however, the band lack awareness of whether they're coming or going, notably so on Seed Of Peace, a yawnable jazz ballad. Very few of the subsequent numbers stand out. One that does however is the beautiful Aspen, Colorado, with its shades of americana and Ian Anderson style fluteline; it's a prototype for the band Steely Dan would become. Finale Dada is a true showtune, clearly drawn from Korda's experience on the West End. 

Overall, this is a distinctly average album. A good listen for Elkie Brooks fans, Vinegar Joe fans and cultivators of jazz fusion, but very few others. 

For Fans Of: Captain Beefheart, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Steely Dan 

Top Tracks: Big Dipper, Aspen, Colorado, Dada 

Rating: 5.8/10

Pluto - "Pluto" (1971)

Pluto - "Pluto" (1971)

North Londoners who injected a dose of British R&B into Southern rock with distinctly average results.

Listening to Pluto with no prior knowledge of the band pieces it in a different place and time altogether from the truth. An easy album to compare it to is Lynyrd Skynyrd's Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-nerd (1974). This being said, it's shocking to see an album like this made by a band of Englishmen before the country rock of Creedence Clearwater Revival really became amped up. Still, all of this adds up to a very unique product back then, but one that it's easy to yawn through now.

Pluto is an intriguing blend of CCR, CS&N and The Who, mixing country influences from across the pond with the ballsy mod tones London had become famous for. Opener Crossfire sounds like it could be Black Oak Arkansas' take on Paranoid, while the slow, Rubber Soul slickness of Mister Westwood is the closest the band gets to a truly sad song. There are some progressive elements in here too; album highlight And My Old Rocking Horse shows a clear a Pink Floyd influence, with an algorithmic chord pastiche setting up a serene Wish You Were Here style ballad. Tracks such as the sublime Beauty Queen also show off an awareness of San Fransisco psychedelic pop.

While the album's lack of anything beyond average makes for a draining listen, it acts as a time capsule, clumping every detail of the contemporary music world into simple bites. It doesn't make them easier to swallow, however.

For fans of: The Who, Pink Floyd, Cosby Stills & Nash.

Top tracks: And My Old Rocking Horse, Stealing My Thunder, Mister Westwood.

Rating: 6.5/10

Pax - "May God And Your Will Land You And Your Soul Miles Away FromEvil" (1970)

Lima garage boys who turned South American rock up to eleven.

Peru is not a country one thinks of when looking at key nations in the metal industry, but a small movement in early '70s Lima resonated with bands such as Sepultura on the other side of the continent. While Pax by no means started this musical revolution (that honor goes to Traffic Sound), their token album gave it as much mainstream appeal as it ever mustered.

Often simply called Pax due to the sheer length of its title, this album exerts itself as something special from the word go, as the ballsy riff of Storyless Junkie leads the listener into a wonderful blues epic; a Mississippi Queen clone perhaps, but one that we actually get time to soak up. Jaime Moreno's vocals are a clear highlight; this is a man who could barely speak English, and yet could hang with Ian Gillan and Lesley West at their peaks with a powerful multi-octave gnarls. The album sweeps through many sounds, from classic boogie woogie (Rock An' Ball) to pounding Hendrix-like space riffage (Sittin' On My Head) to melancholy twelve string ballads (For Cecilia).

The album isn't perfect (not even the most thorough restoration could fix inherent timing issues), but it shows a key  turning point in the history of South Anerican rock. While it ends with the ridiculous Shake Your Ass, Pax may be one of the finest albums of its kind available. Oh, and the 1984 reissue contains satisfying covers of Smoke On the Water and Radar Love.

For fans of: Deep Purple, Mountain, The Yardbirds

Top tracks: Storyless Junkie, Sittin' On My Head, Pig Pen Boogie

Rating: 8.3/10