HW: In Your Area

[Alun Hughes]

I think we'd have to say this is exactly as expected. Without
wishing to be too down on it, it's an accurate reflection of
where the band are at the moment: the difficulty of coming
up with strong new material and the consequent retreads;
the lack of a lyric writer; the execrable Capt Rizz; the poor
quality control. But what they hell, they still sound like no-one
else, there's some good back-catalogue there to reprocess,
and at least there *is* new product.

We'd all like Brock to write some good new songs. I would
doubt that that's just a matter of his being arsed to do it. The
problem seems to be spreading the available inspiration over
the volume of product that appears necessary to sustain the
band. The result is albums that have enough good tracks
to fill an EP, with their impact diluted by perfunctory synth
efforts for which "slight" would be the most generous word I
could find (the commendable "Elfin" aside). Personally, I'd
prefer it if they waited until they had enough decent material
for a proper album; I think the need for product can be (and
often has been) filled by live material, remixes, even some
good old-fashioned improvisation ....

Alun