ROBYN HITCHCOCK Spooked

ROBYN HITCHCOCK
Spooked
(Yep Roc)
www.yeproc.com

Do I own almost everything that Robyn has released? Yeah, almost. I’m sure that there are a couple of obscure singles and 45s, I’ve probably never set eyes on and never will. So what is it about Robyn that compels me to pursue his work when one thinks of the considerable number of CDs out there vying for my (short) attention span?

Could it be his quintessential British quirky persona? Well, I am an admitted Anglophile and British artists have given the world the best rock music anyone has ever heard.

Could it be that his influences are some of my very own? Dylan, Lennon, Barrett and McGuinn. Now, how can anyone go wrong with the psychedelic folk-rock pop that is represented by these rock legends?

Could be…

What to make of Spooked – an unexpected release on US indie Yep Roc: home of Paul Weller, John Doe, Go-Betweens, Bob Mould (sense a trend here, anyone?) – released in 2004 and aided/abetted by alt. country faves Gillian Welch and David Rawlings?

Well, ever since Robyn left Warners in the late 90s, he has been slowly but inexorably moving away from full band electric formats and explored the more folky side of his repertoire. With Spooked, Robyn adds a strong country-blues vibe to his psychedelic folk mix. Which means that Spooked is filled with music that is spare on the instrumentation but pregnant with ideas and Robyn’s trademarked non-sequiturs.

And on that note we start with the spoken word curiosity that is “Welcome to Earth,”

“Welcome to Earth, home of the great women and men.

We are animals that have ideas.

Maybe cats and ravens have ideas too, but they keep them to themselves.

Travellers from the whole galaxy throng to our luscious planet with its evolution-friendly climate and nourishing minerals.

Take time to locate the exit nearest you.

Press 1 for Famine, 2 for Pestilence, 3 for Condoleeza, and 4 for Death.

Please note that Pestilence closes at six.”

Or how about from “Sometimes a Blonde”–

“And ghosts walk in the fire of angels

Honeycombs and principles, ocelots and meerkats

Catch you looking stupid but you just don't care

When your sights are on infinity, you don't fire blanks, no”

And maybe these choice couplets from “We’re Gonna Live in the Trees” –

“I'll bring you fat juicy worms

I'll bring you millipedes

Open your beak and close your eyes

We're gonna live in the trees

We're gonna live in the trees”

See what I mean?

Maybe that’s why I love Robyn so. His craft is so stubbornly oblique; it’s an art in itself. Especially when such deliberately testing lyrics are married to some of the most stunning melodies around.

The frenetic “Everybody Needs Love,” the smooth “Television,” the swampy “Creeped Out” and the heady “English Girl” bear testimony to Robyn’s song crafting abilities. And the glorious cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven Before They Close The Door” is the cherry on the icing on the proverbial cake.

It doesn’t get better than this, my friends… A+