Hawkwind – doing what it says on the tin – back in ’76.

Release Date: 25th July 2025

Label: Atomhenge

Format: LP

 A limited edition vinyl release of the Hawkwind mid Seventies output that mimics the original with it’s Sci Fi mag styled cover art and the intention to have each track as an accompanying story. Nice idea. Complete with the tongue in cheek ads and products endorsed by the band a la The Who Sell Out. Whether or not the sounds would match Dr Brock’s cure for piles, the music within might help distract the discomfort of the Chalfonts.

As per, nothing was ever straightforward with Hawkwind. Line up changes saw the appearance of Robert Calvert adding a Ferry / Bowie cadence to some of his vocals and Paul Rudolph replacing Lemmy makes for a significant difference to the sound – the ‘no rules’ school of metallic bass replaced by something more, for want of a better word, musical.

doors-y meanderings

Some Manzarek styled Doors-y meanderings surface first in Reefer Madness and to a greater extent in Steppenwolf. The latter doing exactly what it says on the tine – maybe even a working title for what they were crafting that stuck. Same goes for the grimy and compressed fuzzy guitar and it’s often left to some of Nik Turner’s honking sax to nudges proceedings towards another dimension.

The album is front loaded with what in hindsight are the two star turns and three instrumentals in the next five tracks. The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon is a funky little number that sounds right out of the Steve Hillage book of grooves and Simon House’s Chronoglide Skyway is pure mid seventies ambient celestial psych of the highest order. Nice sonics, distant sax and an easy guitar line, a mood somewhat removed from the might of the Space Ritual from just a few years ago.

The decoration added by Simon House on violin and various keyboards is worth a shout out. In the wake of his death, a nod to his significant contribution to Hawkwind in general and the soon to be re-issue of PXR5. In particular on this album where violin takes things into an ethereal direction when he’s let loose to work out in the middle of Steppenwolf alongside Calvert’s strange incantations. No wonder Bowie nabbed him for his ’78 tour.

a relaxed comedown

On the other hand, Kerb Crawler doesn’t quite take the pumping Rock and Roll boogie into space and Kadu Flyer might shuffle along pleasantly in its quirky little mystical way, yet there’s a much cleaner definition around the final mix rather than the muddier cacophony inevitably associated with Hawkwind. Less of the swirling vortex and more of a relaxed and restrained come down.

Maybe not an essential Hawkwind album and by no means a duffer. One that’s more transitional and coming off the back of such iconic works Hall Of The Mountain Grill and Warrior On The Edge Of Time. A definite and inevitable intent to alter the MO.

Here’s Steppenwolf:

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