Too many episodes of classic Doctor Who in succession will do it to you every time. Time then loses its synchronicity with the reality of 2015 and a man might unexpectedly find himself back in 1973 in the company of Glasgow band Big Hogg. That was no bad thing as it turns out.
Big Hogg’s self-titled album resonates with references to the past with a notable degree of musical virtuosity long since thought lost always evident. Yes, the long form rock song is back with a vengeance and by the time “Turn To Prayer” metamorphoses into “Rabbit Plateau” you know you will soon be able to see the sky turn from purple to green as the mood and tempo changes. Some might therefore see this as some sort of concept album but it is, in truth, more of what a conscientious objector from back in the day would call a “head” album.
Certainly, the same musical thread is sown through all the songs but the story is less prescriptive than descriptive with broad strokes of instrumental colour splattered almost casually upon their canvas. “Lucky and Bobby”, for example, could even be seen as good old fashioned storytelling in song while “Bad Salad Boogie” is much more like just out of rehab period Little Feat. Inevitably in this context, it is a song called “The Executioner” that takes us back to reality.
The vinyl comes in a proper gatefold sleeve (with mystically elegant cover art by Julia Jeffrey) and, like the music contained therein, does not disappoint.