THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS WAVE TO EACH OTHER

Having decided to stay as a proper band after the hazardous recording of their debut album, VdGG managed to make their musical offer progress along the road of stylistic maturity. You can notice without any doubt that the musicians are joining forces in a more cohesive manner: definitely, the entry of saxophonist/flautist extraordinaire David Jackson served as a mechanism to motivate the instrumental ensemble to work creatively on the increase of psychedelic intensity in the harder passages, and on the delicacy of the softer ones (the flute parts in 'Refugees' and 'Out of My Book' are just amazingly beautiful). With Jackson assuming a prominent presence in the band's sound, Hugh Banton feels specially challenged to explore his Gothic and orchestral leanings on his Hammond and Farfisa organs mostly (is that an organ on fire in the closing section of 'White Hammer'?). Meanwhile, the rhythm section of Evans/Potter lays a confident foundation for all this sonic amalgam. And last, but no least. on the front side, Hammill delivers a major level of energy and passion in his singing - influenced by Kinks' Davies and Bowie -, as well as a more interesting and varied poetry in his lyrics (ranging from the existentialist fury of the opening number to the anti-dogmatism proclamation in 'White Hammer', to free association in 'Whatever Would Robert Have Said?', to the scientific reflections of the closure). The opening number 'Darkness 11/11' is an explosive manifesto of angst towards the apparently lack of meaning in human life: though being a slow song, it serves as an energetic entrance. The lyrical beauty of 'Refugees' - one of my all time fave VdGG tracks - is just too captivating to be believed. but it is real, as it is majestic in sweet melancholy. Things get pretty rougher for the next two numbers: 'White Hammer' somewhat recaptures the mood of 'Darkness' taking it to a more frenzy level, while 'Whatever Would Robert.' sounds more ironic (inscrutable lyrics, indeed - not even Hammill himself remembers what they're about), something like a mixture of early KC and late 60s Dylan, including an effective sax solo in the middle. 'Out of My Book' stands out as one of the few really peaceful songs in VdGG history: the main key to its warm beauty resides in the delicious Barocco flute and organ textures. This one momentary rest gives the listener enough strength to face the powerful sonic display of the closing number 'After the Flood': had it been part of any of their two following records, it would have been less restrained and more fiery, but again, as I said in the first lines of this review, this record shows a VdGG headlong to their maturity, but not quite there yet. Anyway, it wouldn't take long before it happens. Not a perfect masterpiece, but a fine prelude to them - I give this album 4 stars.

P.S.: The few guitar parts that appear in this album were split between Banton and Potter.

Addendum: The 2005 remastered release includes two bonus tracks. The first one is 'The Boat of Millions of Years', which shows what VdGG's first album woulda have sounded like had hackson been a member at the time. The other one is the single version of 'Refugees', which is a bit shorter than the original - due to the presence of string arrangements and harpsichord during the second half, this rendition feels more majestic.