Angel Air continue their mining of the recently deceased John Du
Cann’s catalogue with two discs, originally released on Purple Records,
that visit his post Atomic Rooster (the first time!) days and his all
too short collaboration with future Roxy Music and Gillan man John
Gustafson and ex-Rooster drummer Paul Hammond.
“Bulletproof”, initially released in 1972, is very much of it’s time and never manages to consistently challenge the level Atomic Rooster had reached. A
scattergun approach style-wise sees rough opener “Jay Time” and the
unfinished sounding “The Provider – Part One” poor bookends to eight
other tracks of which the Gustafson, Gillan and Glover co-write “Monster
In Paradise”, the rip-roaring “Millionaire and the excellent heavy
rocker “Sinister Minister” really impress with much of the other
material enjoyable, especially Du Cann’s guitar work, but falling a bit
into the “has it moments but ultimately unmemorable” category.
The following years “Bolex Dementia” is a more accomplished and
impressive offering. “Roll A Rocket”, “Ragman” and “Jumpin’ Thumpin” all
catch the attention boasting a bit of Slade-like early 70′s stomp
whilst the variety evident on the first album is still apparent but
overall the standard is just higher. Really it’s only the experimental
sounding title track – a slightly more tuneful “Revolution 9″ is the
phrase that sticks in my mind – that fails to hit the spot.
As with the “Bulletproof” release a couple of bonus tracks are added but the
“classic album” tag that the label give each release is being a bit kind
I feel. Any student of early 70s rock is going to find something of
interest on these discs as there are plenty of examples of just why John
Du Cann’s legacy is worth investigation, just don’t expect to discover
two albums chock full of lost gems.
Bill Leslie
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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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