Most of us have long since decided where we stand where ROBYN HITCHCOCK is concerned: you either totally embrace his whimsical, quintessentially English psych-pop or ignore it. This writer's firmly in the former camp. Indeed, to these ears, Mr. Hitchcock has been remarkably consistent since The Soft Boys' classic 'Underwater Moonlight' arrived a frightening three decades back.
Hitchcock has followed his charmingly surreal pop path ever since and while he's never hit the big commercial league, he's picked up some high-profile friends along the way. Three of 'em make up his semi-permanent current band, The Venus 3, with guitarist Peter Buck and his REM alumni Bill Rieflin (drums) and Scott McCaughey (bass/vocals) making up a dream of a backline.
Their new album 'Propellor Time' was apparently recorded back in the mists of 2006 (prior to last release 'Goodnight Oslo', in fact) but for some reason it hasn't seen the light of day until now. Other reviews I've read have made reference to re-mixing and considerable amounts sonic tweaking since, but it seems hard to believe for 'Propellor Time' - like most Hitchcock records - sounds live and natural with the great man's usual oddball pop bent as strong as ever.
Having said that, it's not an obviously radio-friendly pop album (a 'Perspex Island', say) this time around. The melodies are often haunting and autumnal - not least on the slightly chilly title track or the more fractured likes of 'John In The Air'- and of a semi-acoustic nature while the acid-tinged spectre of Syd Barrett is an omnipresent (if benign) presence throughout.
So it's business as usual in Hitchcock land, basically. But that's not a problem, for 'Propellor Time' hoards more than enough bizarre brilliance to get by. When it does think about rocking out ('The Afterlight' or 'Sickie Boy' where Rieflin finally gives his toms a good leathering) it's in a typically chiming'n'spangly Byrds-y way, but these outings are more the exception than the rule. Much more commonplace are the mellifluous, Anglo-whimsy outings like the opening 'Star of Venus' or the wonked, but glorious acid camp-fire celebration of 'Luckiness'.
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A few high profile collaborators from Led Zep's John Paul Jones to Soft Boys drummer Morris Windsor drop by along the way, though Robyn's Johnny Marr collaboration 'Ordinary Millionaire' is the obvious highlight for this writer. An exquisite and poised semi-ballad, it's a more straightforward examination of the human condition ("to say you're only human, to say you're just a man/ what does that mean?") than is the norm in Hitchcock lore, but it's no less poised or powerful for that. It's arguably the album's finest achievement, though the closing 'Evolove' (sic) runs it close. Let's face it, any track with the lyric "if Jesus were alive, would you give him a High Five?"Â has an immediate head-start, doesn't it?
'Propellor Time' probably isn't the one to introduce Robyn Hitchcock to a whole new generation, but then he's never worked within such obvious industry terms. It's a bit of a sleeper, but its' off-kilter melodic strengths seep through after a few plays and over time it'll be sure to take its' place in a very long line of under-appreciated classics.
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