To (almost) quote Charles Dickens, Another Time Another Dimension is a tale of two Brainiac 5 ent(c)ities. The album fuses the absolutely wonderful 1970s psych/punk songs that touch the sounds of the Stranglers, Hawkwind, (my beloved) Pretty Things, my (equally beloved) Edgar Broughton Band with a dose of reggae – and several new tunes that continue with the “second coming” in 2012 of the band who created great psych/prog records like Exploding Universe and Back to Shore.
You know, to (almost) quote Charles Dickens again, the ’70s were “the best of times” with the likes of Mott the Hoople’s Brain Capers, Yes’s Close to the Edge, anything by City Boy, the Good Rats, David Bowie, Genesis’ Foxtrot, and wonderfully esoteric records like Stray’s Saturday Morning Pictures, or T2’s It’ll All Work Out in Boomland. And it was also the “the worst of times,” what with disco and a whole lot of synthesized keyboard sounds that had nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll.
But there was always a votive candle, even if, as the great Ian Hunter sang, “you didn’t know that rock ‘n’ roll burned.” And the early tracks included on the reformed Brainiac 5’s new album Another Time Another Dimension do, definitely “burn.”
The lead-off hitter, “Spring Fever” is casually great with a slight calypso beat that is juxtaposed with urgent melody and a magical guitar solo. And then follows the catchy reggae tune “I Call Your Name,” which gives Led Zeppelin’s “D’yer Mak’er” a run for its dub dollar. Then the proto-punk “Jet Fighter” has the pub-rocking beat of an Eddie and the Hotrods vibe. Again, the guitar solo chainsaws its way through the (before-mentioned) late ’70s (“worst of times”) disco and electronic keyboard records that were written as foreign film soundtracks.
The same is true for the sweaty pub-dancing live recording of “Flying Tonight.” And then “Do Ya” (another live recording) ups the tension with a Kinks chord progression (sort of borrowed by the Who) but still worthy of a slashed green-amp pulse. And just so you know: These are unreleased songs by the band, taken from the Brainiac 5’s “Cornwall period” of 1976—80.
For a rock ‘n’ roll blood infusion, however, Reckless Records has thankfully compiled the best of the Brainiac 5’s early years in the collection When Silence Was Sound. Thank you, Reckless Records!
“Dancing in the Sun” touches lovely reggae, again — with an irresistible chorus. “Khazi Persona” rocks like an outtake from (the before-mentioned) Pretty Things on their brilliant Parachute album. That’s big praise! A live recording of the John D. Loudermilk chestnut “Tobacco Road” manages to burn a few synapses with brain receptors eager for bluesy hard rock that’s always ready to be “Going to Hell on a Sled,” with a clever songwriter’s tough grin.
“I Feel So Good” really does bounce on safety pins, with a Sex Pistols vibe and vinyl grooves uncut with age and a rollercoaster guitar ride. “The Warning” gets nicely weird with a psych paintbrush and a really neat bass line, while the electric guitar burps with sonic vibrations from some planet in the Andromeda Galaxy – while taping their own really cool alien version of Top of the Pops.
There are two songs from the Brainiac 5’s “wilderness years” of 1981-2012: The first, “Pain in a Bowl,” bulges with wah-wah guitar, a (sort of) reggae pulse, and odd horns. It’s a nice piece of music. Then, (oh my!) “Sludge” (recorded live) ups the wah-wah ante, and finds some sort of sonic euphoria that rides shotgun to Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs” (thank you, Jimi Hendrix!) in a really odd orbit that bends time and buzzes through the grooved bits in the brain. It’s a nice ride.
And then there are three new Brainiac 5 tracks: “Never Say Never” is acoustic, bluesy, lyrically important, and very melodic. The title cut, “Another Time Another Dimension,” is just clever show-biz tough sweet guitar rock that warps pop music (with harmonica and female backing vocals!) toward sweet prog-psych rock ‘n’ roll bliss. And finally, “Our Devils” glides on a piano protein riff while an electric guitar takes a carnival ride and the percussion punctuates the pulse of the tune — and then there’s a reprise of “Never Say Never” with the caustic words, “dark plumes carbon fumes.” This is important rock ‘n’ roll stuff.
Just a comment: The re-formed Brainiac 5 has released the brilliant psych-prog albums Exploding Universe, Journey to X, and Back to Shore, all of which touch the enormous heart of rock music. My friend Kilda Defunt once said, “Every answer requires a question, but not all questions require an answer.” Perhaps, rock music is just that — a question with no answer.
And, what with classic rock, proto punk, reggae, and psych-prog, Brainiac 5 answers all the Jeopardy prompts with the clever uncertainty of rock ‘n’ roll tunes, a wah-wah glimpse at heaven, and the always-certain Ringo Starr backbeat. Great albums somehow manage to do just that.
- Kilbey Kennedy – ‘Premonition K’ (2024) - July 1, 2024
- Focus – ‘Focus 12’ (2024) - June 25, 2024
- Elaine Palmer – ‘Half Moon Rising’ (2024) - May 23, 2024
