LADY LAKE

Moving Vietnam War-era tune 'I Could Never Be a Soldier' opens the Gnid's outstanding follow-up to their promising debut the same year, the Brothers Goldring tearing a page straight out of Benefit period Tull with the grind of a tin can guitar and airy flutes from the winds of John Earle & multi-talented Nigel Pegrum. More developed than In Spite of Harry's Toenail and with fewer avant garde experiments, Lady Lake is a fully realized album showing a team that was always a few years ahead of everyone else in their vision of where rock was heading, both in their prog aspirations and punky tendencies. A fairly good songwriting unit is also heard and we wonder what these fellas might've done had they not been too far in front of the curve for their own good. Think early Gentle Giant meets Supertramp at an outdoor concert. 'Ship' bobs on the waves highlighting the group's talent for protest folk and is followed by morose ditty 'A Dog With No Collar'. The title cut finally pumps some life into things, lush with traffic jams of horns layered five and six deep, sublime drums from Pegrum and an infectious jazz exploration, and swells to a huge finish. Somewhat whiny 'Same Dreams' quickly moves to the excellent 'Social Embarrassment', an ideal sample of the art of rock in 1972 with a big & bold arrangement and huge energy.

At the time, Gnidrolog's first two albums were cutting-edge rock music, kept the big boys on their toes and looking over their shoulders, and should not be missed by anyone interested in this marvelous and mercurial period in music.