Labels: Alone (Spain)
Review by: Alex Deller
First reaction to this was a mixture of mirth and gape-mouthed horror. The 10-minute opening track sounds like something that might play during the closing moments of an under-the-radar 90s sci-fi flick. You know, the scene where the grizzled hero – blood-smudged and ash-dappled – wearily gazes at a distant plume of smoke while he drapes an arm over the shoulders of a tousled femme fatale and their amiable, stumbling android companion burbles a wisecrack from the sidelines. Elsewhere, Peter Weller lies in a tangle of debris, impaled by a fortuitous stalactite with his pleather-gloved fist raised to the sky, defiant to the bitter end.
Glimmering keyboard notes hint at a glorious future for each of the surviving cast members. Expert guitar licks and smooth sax notes twine together in pornographic fashion, hinting at the long-overdue frisson between the male and female leads when they can find a quiet cabin to themselves. The frontman’s nasal vocals spiral emotively out of control as if to mend a rift in the galaxy with the gift of song alone.
Amidst this admittedly dubious set of circumstances, something, somehow clicks. Beyond the skill with which things have been professionally woven together and the fact that their hard rock chops owe a loving debt to the likes of Deep Purple, Mountain and Captain Beyond there’s just a strange sense of rightness to proceedings that’s impossible to put a finger on. In less competent, caring hands this would doubtless be abhorrent, but, as it stands, Itaca’s unconquerable gusto carries it up towards the heavens while so many others would have plummeted back to Earth. It’s strange, and if you sling this on in certain company you’re going to get laughed out of the room (‘No Way Back Home’ features what sounds like bongos and a flute solo FOR FUCKS SAKE), but if the idea of a 70s rock equivalent to Slough Feg, Dawnbringer or Hammers Of Misfortune just happens to tickle your wattle then close the curtains, leave the phone off the hook and let the ridiculous glory of it all wash over you.