The Irish Times
July 27, 1995
Robyn Hitchcock
Whelans
by Kevin Courtney
If you're old enough, you might remember The Soft Boys: the '70s Punkpop-sters who released such records as Give It To The Soft Boys and A Can Of Bees. Me, I only go as far back as Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians, and their late-'80s albums Globe Of Frogs and Queen Elvis. But there's still enough weirdness there to pad a good sized cell.
At Whelans of Wexford Street at the weekend, Hitchcock performed a witty, low-key solo show displaying a quirky, psychedelic sense of the absurd. And it wasn't too hard to spot the influence at such quintessentially English icons as John Cale, Syd Barrett, Hunky Dory-era David Bowie, and Bonzo Dog Band gonzo Neil Innes.
Picking out some tasty chord progressions on his acoustic and electric guitar, Hitchcock dipped into his back-catalogue, pulling out such offbeat tunes as "My Wife And My Dead Wife", "Chinese Bones", and "Heaven" -- his voice sometimes soaring into a sustained contralto, then dipping into a throaty bass. Old Soft Boys tunes like "Queen Of Eyes" and "Only The Stones Remain" proved that Hitchcock has always had a cross-eyed view of life, and his between-song patter underlined his off-kilter sense of humour.
Hitchcock's lyrical obsessions range from incurable diseases to diabolical manifestations and naughty sex in the shrubbery -- and he raised many a laugh with such tunes as "Direct Me To The Cheese" and "I Something You". Beyond the humour, there's a talent for conjuring up a single image with words. And "Raymond Chandler Evening" perfectly froze a single, rainswept pregnant pause.
"I Got A Message For You" was an old tune which has obviously been tampered with, transforming it into a deliciously gross love song (complete with festering boils). Charming. Hitchcock's back-catalogue is being re-released on Sequel (and on Rhino in The States), so now's the chance to catch up on the strange, spaced out songs of Peter Buck's occasional jamming buddy.
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