Howling Hex, the

Former member of Pussy Galore and Royal Trux appears here in his third "solo" effort, slinging twisted guitar runs and lyrics, both of which seem in small snippets sensible but taken at length provoke a "Huh?" Sort of like the text of the booklet here. In this sense, you could compare Hagerty's playing and compositions to those of Fred Frith, circa Gravity and Speechless, one of Frith's most fertile periods. Very much an acquired taste except for the occasional tune that's so wonderful that you begin to suspect that you misjudged the other, more mediocre efforts. His first album was brilliantly labyrinthine. His second was dull. Here, I think he's back on track, with a mix of mostly studio cuts plus a couple of hot, live workouts (two of them from a Bottom Of The Hill show in 2002).

1. The above-mentioned "Huh?" effect
2. Almost a catchy 60s-style tune
5. Fervent riffing and power-drumming
7. Funky, relatively straight tune with dissonant yet perfect guitar solos
9. Mellow shuffle
10. Fucked up and pounding
11. Love the Allman Bros.-style twin-guitar (overdubbed) attack here
15. The serpentine saxophone makes this interlude cool
16. Going acoustic
17. All violin, no Hagerty interlude
18. Nice funky bass and a couple of guitar lines and a sax competing for coolness points
20. Where'd this come from? Synth and violin etude
21. Extended live jam