Hugh Hopper – Monster Band (1979) Review | My, I’ll Bet You Monsters Lead Interesting Lives
Kronomyth 2.0: The manster from the soft machine.
The very best of bestiaries are both terrifying and edifying. Edifying as they reveal the primordial components that bind all of creation together (limbs, assorted orifices, et cetera), terrifying in their illustrated potentialities of said creation run amok. On his second solo effort, Monster Band, Hugh Hopper uncages an assortment of interesting beasties. On the first side, Hopper is the lone creator, shaping his creatures with familiar parts (guitar, bass, keyboards), imbuing a few with a ticking heart (Golden Section, Lily Kong, 12-8 Theme) and letting them run wild in the familiar landscapes of space (Churchy) and prog (Sliding Dogs). The music of Cluster and Robert Fripp are momentary reference points, though Hopper is less discorporated than the one and less disciplined than the other. On side two, Elton Dean, Mike Travis and a pair of Jean-Pierres enter the fray as the music takes a decided turn toward the Zappaesque. (It’s a shame Elton Dean and Frank Zappa never played together during their lifetimes, and one can only hope they’re jamming together in the hereafter.) On the live side, “Sliding Dogs” slides all over the place, Dean goes apeshit on “Lily Kong” and two new animals are introduced. Nozzles Tecalemit is a giant, bat-faced owl ambling in a top-heavy frame, Get Together moves like a massive inchworm while Dean whips himself into a froth. The rest of the bestiary features deep sea creatures with luminous prongs, torsos of shiny gold scales, purplish monsters swallowing prey in ruby-red lips and multi-headed water hydras. Of course, you need to approach Monster Band with open mind and open ears. The world would, after all, have you shut both to the cries of the harvesters as they’re caught in the blades of industry, because the real monsters don’t look like monsters at all, but very much like you and me.
The Product
A1. Golden Section
A2. Sliding Dogs
A3. Churchy
A4. Lily Kong
A5. 12-8 Theme
B1. Sliding Dogs (live)
B2. Lily Kong (live)
B3. Nozzles Tecalemit (live)
B4. Get Together (live)
All songs written by Hugh Hopper.
The Players
Hugh Hopper (all instruments on side A, bass on side B) with Jean-Pierre Carolfi (keyboards on side B), Elton Dean (saxello on side B), Mike Travis (drums on side B), Jean-Pierre Weiller (bass on side B). Re-mastered by Mike Dunne.
The Pictures
Cover design by Great Stour Publications.
The Plastic
Released on elpee in 1979 in the UK and France (IRI Atmosphere, IRI 5003).
- Re-issued on compact disc in the US (Culture Press, 301278).
