Yes, it's hardly an old unsung classic, but it has to be sung somewhere. The artists formerly known as xhawkwind ( sorry if Brock sues you for that, Julian) release a stunning little piece of "in your face" spacerock. With epic, large, enormous production values. Oh, and a great song. Something that the "real" Hawkwind haven't been capable of in over 20 years. Seriously, "Sonic Savages" is everything HW used to represent and more. Quite awesome, and that's just track one.

"Ritual Of The Ravaged Earth" starts off all synthy and drum-machiney, which I initially hated but Turner's "Warrior"-inspired narration and the exceptionally strange vocal FX have won me over. It's still less synthetic than HW's abysmal latest offering.

"Jazzy Jam", despite the less-than-inspired title, is basically Floyd's "Pow R. Toc. H" with a sax and more spacey narration, but works a treat for all that. Mick Slattery, plays some beautiful guitar lines, as he also does on the title track. The whole damn thing bodes VERY well for the apparently forthcoming album.

The EP is worth getting hold of for "SS" alone. The rest is fascinating. At its worst, it's head and shoulders above the recent HW output. Treat yourself.

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