Chicago Tribune
January 27, 1995
Play On
by Greg Kot
Beginning this week, Rhino Records will release nine CDs documenting the largely overlooked early- to mid-'80s solo career of Robyn Hitchcock.
The first three, out now, were recorded after Hitchcock's first band, The Soft Boys, broke up: Black Snake Diamond Role, Gravy Deco, and I Often Dream of Trains. Outfitted with bonus tracks and liner notes, the discs affirm the staying power of Hitchcock's subversive Popcraft.
Black Snake Diamond Role (1981 ****) is among Hitchcock's finest albums, a work of hilarity both satiric ("Do Policemen Sing?") and dark ("Brenda's Iron Sledge"), yet tinged with remarkable tenderness ("Acid Bird").
Melodic and intelligent, the work includes a bent bonus track, "Happy The Golden Prince", that touches on Hitchcock's fascination with the unappetizing details of the insect (and reptile) world. This tendency would come to intrude on some of his later work, but it's more like a novelty here.
The patched together Gravy Deco (1982 **1/2) reflects Hitchcock's unhappiness at the time. In contrast to the casual atmosphere of Black
Snake, he was paired with producer Steve Hillage in a big-budget session
for an album titled Groovy Decay.
Disgusted with the results, Hitchcock later released the stripped-down demo tapes as Groovy Decoy. Tracks from both comprise Gravy Deco, and it's a mess.
After taking two years off, Hitchcock recorded the spare I Often Dream Of Trains (1984 ****) largely by himself, but it lacks nothing -- an emotionally riveting, musically accomplished tour de force.
It includes some of Hitchcock's most enduring concert staples, including the Pythonesque "Uncorrected Personality Traits" and the lovely "Cathedral".
Subsequent Rhino releases will include one of Hitchcock's most accomplished
Pop albums, Fegmania!, as well as the live Gotta Let This Hen Out! and the more oblique Element of Light, in February.
These will be followed in March by reissued (Invisible Hitchcock) and new (You & Oblivion) rarities collections, plus the solo Eye
disc from 1990.
Subsequent to most of these albums, Hitchcock has achieved a new level of commercial prominence, thanks to the name-dropping of friends like R.E.M.. But the Rhino reissues contain the core of his legacy.
With the exception of The Soft Boys' Underwater Moonlight, there is no better Hitchcock anywhere than on Black Snake Diamond Role and I Often Dream of Trains.
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