Bazaar Bazaar

Additional personnel: Robert Cantrell (percussion).
Featuring former members of boogie revivalists the Cherry Valence and production and mixing work by avowed Led Zeppelin and Uriah Heep fan Mitch Easter, the debut album by Birds of Avalon is an unapologetic throwback to 1970s FM rock. Unlike most similar denim and patchouli devotees, however, Birds of Avalon aren't interested in re-creating one particular sound from the period. As a result, Bazaar Bazaar has songs that recall early Cheap Trick ("Bicentennial Baby"), Pink Floyd (the mellow, keyboard-heavy instrumentals "Where's My Jet Pack" and "Instant Coma," which may be the best things on the album), Peter Frampton ("Superpower"), a generation of trippy psych bands (the sitar-bedecked noodler "Think"), Hawkwind space blooze ("Horse Called Dust"), and any number of others. Tuneful, muscular and fearlessly retro, Bazaar Bazaar is rather like mid-period Redd Kross minus the McDonald brothers' inherent irony and sarcasm, and should appeal equally to hipsters looking for the new old thing and first-wave fans of the old classic rockers. ~ Stewart Mason