Hawkwind — Sonic Assassins 1977
Recorded in late 1977, this seven-track live album found space rockers Hawkwind trying out a new name, Dave Brock’s Sonic Assassins, a new line-up, and a more spacy, bounding, and at points punked take on their sound. Here from Atomhenge, one of Cherry Red Sub labels, is either a CD or vinyl reissue of this key/ important release in the band's history.
I’m reviewing the CD version of the release- it comes presented in a glossy four-panel digipak. This features a white, red, and blue on black cover art- taking in a skull, jagged text, and the year of the concert. Also included is a glossy twelve-page inlay, featuring a new five-page write-up about the concert/ album, and a good selection of concert and band stills.
The concert took place on 23rd December 1977 at Queens Hall, Barnstaple. The line-up brought together Hawkwind's key song-craftsmen, Robert Calvert (vocals) and Dave Brock (guitar), with Harvey Bainbridge (bass), Martin Griffin (drums), and Paul Hayles (keys), who were members of a local band called Ark- they would later become full-time members of Hawkwind.
We kick off with “Gold Void”(from 1975’s Warrior on the Edge of Time). And from the off there’s a wonderful blend of spiralling, cascading and wailing synth tones- mixed in with gunning guitar chugs. And when Calvert's vocals appear, there is quite a wailing, almost forlorn shouty-ness about them.
We get a punky take on “Death Trap” ( from 1979’s PXR5) with trashing- to-wailing guitar work, noisily baying synth tones, and Calvert's vocals, which rather brought to mind the kind of thing Daevid Allen did on the New York Gong album. The album is finished off with “Welcome To The Future” ( from 1973’s Space Ritual), which mixes steadily bounding/ almost blues touched organ tones, sing-song post-punk vocals, wonky guitar strum, and tip-toping almost jazzy vibe key darting.
The album takes in a new mix from the original master tape, and every element is both clear and crisp in the mix. Yet at the same time there is both power and weight, as well as subtlety and depth when needed.
Sonic Assassins 1977 is both a damn great live album and an important piece in the development of Hawkwind’s sound.