Rock, Metal

Groundhogs – Hogwash (1972)

2011-11-03T12:14:09Z

Groundhogs – Hogwash (1972)


01. I Love Miss Ogyny -	5:24
02. You Had A Lesson - 5:53
03. The Ringmaster - 1:23
04. 3744 James Road - 7:18
05. Sad Is The Hunter - 5:19
06. S'one Song - 3:35
07. Earth Shanty - 6:50
08. Mr.Hooker, Sir John  - 3:34					play
Bonuses:
09. Rolling And Tumbling (Joanne Kelly/McPhee) - 2:29	play
10. Death Letter - 4:13
11. Me And The Devil Blues - 3:52
12. No More Doggin' - 3:49 

Personnel:
- Tony McPhee - guitar, acoustic guitar, Mellotron, synthesizer, vocals
- Peter Cruickshank - bass
- Clive Brooks – drums

Hogwash falls somewhere in between the Groundhogs' raw, blues-meets-electric rock sound of the late '60s and early '70s, and the less enthusiastic material that followed. It initiates more of a fundamental prog rock sound, with Tony McPhee's guitar work (along with a smattering of keyboard bits) taking on some well-maintained aggression. The album is the first for the former Egg drummer Clive Brooks, replacing Ken Pustlenik who left after 1972's Who Will Save the World album, while bass player Peter Cruickshank dishes out some of the group's better bottom-heavy riffs. But, even with a hearty progressive foundation in place, the material from Hogwash has a hard time competing with 1970's Thank Christ for the Bomb or the conceptual Split album, which came out a year later. "Earth Shanty" and "S'one Song" aren't overwhelming, but the defined British blues sound coming from McPhee's guitar playing on "I Love Miss Ogyny" makes up for them. "You Had a Lesson"'s energy comes from the erratic time signatures, while the one minute and 25 seconds of "The Ringmaster" is caught up in a psychedelic, space rock ride. "3744 James Road" is pure Groundhogs, rumbling along with a slightly tainted blues chug, and accompanied by an unrefined vocal pounce. The band's inattentiveness begins to show up on "Sad Is the Hunter," "Mr. Hooker, Sir John," and infrequently throughout the albums last few tracks, with the genuine spunk and organic feel of the instruments losing their ruggedness. While Hogwash isn't their most solid album through and through, it has more fruitful moments than ineffective ones, and it still stands as the Groundhogs' last worthy release. 1974's Solid and both releases from 1976, Crosscut Saw and Black Diamond, show the band's evident dispersal from their original sound. ---Mike DeGagne, AllMusic Review

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Groundhogs – Solid (1974)

2011-12-07T09:47:18Z

Groundhogs – Solid (1974)


1. Light My Light - 6:24
2. Free From All Alarm - 5:10
3. Sins Of The Father - 5:27
4. Sad Go Round - 2:52				play
5. Corn Cob - 5:32
6. Plea Sing, Plea Song - 2:57
7. Snow Storm - 3:27				play
8. Joker's Grave - 8:39
+
9. Over Blue (B-Side) - 2:46

Personnel:
- Tony McPhee - Gibson SG, Fender Stratocaster, Yamaha Acoustic, ARP 2600 Synthesiser, Mellotron, Synth Hi Fi, Audio Design Phaser,Vari-pitch Revox, Vocals
- Peter Cruickshank - Zemaitis Bass
- Clive Brooks - Ludwig Drums

On the surface, the Groundhogs could easily have become one of the dozens of British "blooze and boogie" bands that cropped up in the late '60s and early '70s in the manner of Savoy Brown or Foghat, but Tony (T.S.) McPhee's ideas and ambitions were just eccentric enough to push the band into directions too challenging for most mainstream listeners, and as with much of their catalog it's McPhee's sense of invention that makes 1974's Solid memorable. Recorded in McPhee's home studio with Clive Brooks on drums and Peter Cruickshank on bass, most of Solid's nine numbers are anchored by the sonic overdrive of McPhee's guitar playing, which twists blues figures through psych and progressive frameworks, while the doomy poetics of his lyrics don't so much establish the mood of the songs as reinforce the tone of the music. While Brooks and Cruickshank are a fine rhythm section, giving these songs the muscle and backbone to make the most of their hard rock leanings, this is obviously McPhee's show, and an impressive show it is. Not too many guys would think to lay a Mellotron or a fuzzy synthesizer over a heavy blues jam, or run his recordings through such a remarkable maze of phase shifting and ping-pong panning, but in his own small way McPhee's music is in the grand tradition of the great eccentrics of British rock, and that windmill-tilting spirit is what Solid is all about -- it's not a freak masterpiece like Thank Christ for the Bomb or Who Will Save the World?, but if you dug the twists and turns of those albums you owe it to yourself to give this a listen. --- Mark Deming, All Music Guide

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Groundhogs – Thank Christ For The Bomb (1970)

2011-11-02T09:30:10Z

Groundhogs – Thank Christ For The Bomb (1970)


01. Strange Town - 4:18
02. Darkness Is No Friend - 3:45		play
03. Soldier - 4:50
04. Thank Christ For The Bomb - 7:17
05. Ship On The Ocean - 3:27
06. Garden - 5:20
07. Status People - 3:31				play
08. Rich Man, Poor Man - 3:25
09. Eccentric Man - 4:54

Personnel:
- Tony McPhee - guitar, vocals
- Peter Cruickshank - bass
- Ken Pustelnik – drums

Thank Christ for the Bomb was the first Groundhogs album to indicate that the group had a lifespan longer than the already-fading British blues boom suggested. It was also the first in the sequence of semi-conceptual masterpieces that the group cut following their decision to abandon the mellow blues of their earlier works and pursue the socially aware, prog-inflected bent that culminated with 1972's seminal Who Will Save the World? album. They were rewarded with their first ever Top Ten hit and purchasers were rewarded with an album that still packs a visceral punch in and around Tony McPhee's dark, doom-laden lyrics. With the exception of the truly magisterial title track, the nine tracks err on the side of brevity. Only one song, the semi-acoustic "Garden," strays over the five-minute mark, while four more barely touch three-and-one-half minutes. Yet the overall sense of the album is almost bulldozing, and it is surely no coincidence that, engineering alongside McPhee's self-production, Martin Birch came to the Groundhogs fresh from Deep Purple in Rock and wore that experience firmly on his sleeve. Volume and dynamics aside, there are few points of comparison between the two albums -- if the Groundhogs have any direct kin, it would have to be either the similarly three-piece Budgie or a better-organized Edgar Broughton Band. But, just as Deep Purple was advancing the cause of heavy rock by proving that you didn't need to be heavy all the time, so Thank Christ for the Bomb shifts between light and dark, introspection and outspokenness, loud and, well, louder. Even the acoustic guitars can make your ears bleed when they feel like it and, although the anti-war sentiments of "Thank Christ for the Bomb" seem an over-wordy echo of Purple's similarly themed "Child in Time," it is no less effective for it. Elements of Thank Christ for the Bomb do seem overdone today, not the least of which is the title track's opening recitation (a history of 20th century war, would you believe?). But it still has the ability to chill, thrill, and kill any doubts that such long-windiness might evoke, while the truths that were evident to McPhee in 1970 aren't too far from reality today. [Originally issued in 1970, the LP was reissued on CD in 2007 and features bonus tracks.] ---Dave Thompson, AllMusic Review

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Groundhogs – Who Will Save The World – The Mighty Groundhogs (1972)

2011-11-09T09:51:18Z

Groundhogs – Who Will Save The World – The Mighty Groundhogs (1972)


01. Earth Is Not Room Enough - 4:49	
02. Wages Of Peace - 4:35		
03. Body In Mind - 3:48		
04. Music Is The Food Of Thought - 4:36	
05. Bog Roll Blues - 3:10								play		
06. Death Of The Sun - 2:52 		
07. Amazing Grace (Traditional, arr.Tony McPhee) - 2:22		play		
08. The Grey Maze - 10:09		

Personnel:
- Tony McPhee - guitar, mellotron, harmonium, vocals
- Pete Cruickshank - bass
- Ken Pustelnik – drums

The final installment in the Groundhogs' trio of early '70s masterpieces--also including 1970's THANK CHRIST FOR THE BOMB and 1971's SPLIT--WHO WILL SAVE THE WORLD features eight epic tracks, so stripped-to-the-bone and brutal they are barely definable as blues. With the classic line-up of the band recording for the last time (drummer Ken Pestelnik departed after this album's release), the album has some of the heaviest cuts in their oeuvre: "Earth is Not Room Enough" finds a riffy groove dissolving into mellotron-driven confusion; "Death of the Sun" foregrounds frantically layered piano and guitar arpeggios; and the album's closer, "The Grey Maze," highlights the devastating guitar work that made Tony McPhee a British legend. Hearing the latter's fret heroics, one would be hard pressed to disagree with the album's premise (bolstered by the artwork of D.C. Comics illustrator Neal Adams) that the Mighty Groundhogs were indeed here to save the world. ---Patrick Sullivan, AllMusic Review

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