With a CV that includes The Prisoners, The Solarflares, JTQ, Thee Headcoats and The Stabilisers, it’s fair to say that Allan Crockford is a well respected veteran of the Medway area’s garage rock scene. The Galileo 7 formed as a vehicle for his own material and this storming 14 tracker on Teen Sound is their debut release.
‘Never Go Back’ is a blistering opener – a snarling Crockford vocal and swirling organ from Viv Bonsels backed by a thumping rhythm section (Paul Moss and Russ Baxter), and all melded together with some furious guitar and glorious harmonies. It merges straight into ‘Something Else’, a gutsy slab of freakbeat meets mod pop.
The delightfully titled and psych-y ‘Orangery Lane’ brings to mind both Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and XTC’s alter-ego spin-off band The Dukes Of Stratosphear, while at the same time sounding completely original! The stomping ‘Mine! Mine! Mine!’ and the lighter ‘The Sandman Turns Away’ are two more impressive melodic cuts.
The energetic ‘Run Baby Run’ and ‘Feet On The Ground’ are both killer tunes, while the thunderous power pop of ‘Go Home’ is followed by the groovy instrumental ‘Feed The Meter’.
The dreamy ‘Running Through My Hands’, the tour de force that is ‘Can’t Resist’ and the relentless ‘The Best Way Is Our Way’ bring proceedings to a close in style.
Accompanied by some appropriately striking and colourful psychedelic artwork, this album comes highly recommended; an action-packed 44 minute stew of harmony-drenched garage rock with a power pop / psych edge.
****
Review by Jim Henderson
Jim Henderson presents “Power Pop” on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sunday 18:00 (first and last Sunday of each month)
