Just what the Doctor ordered.
26 years after the albums first release and over 36 years since the albums that many rate as Captain Beefhearts peak, 'Doc At The Radar Station' gets a spit and polish job as part of a series of Dan Van Vliet reissues.
No doubt inspired by a new magic band playing behind him, the late 1970s and early 1980s found Beefheart having a flourish in his career, returning to the public eye and critical acclaim welcoming him once more before his retirement from the music scene to focus on painting. With a track called 'Run Paint Run Run' on the album and its lyrics trading on painting as a metaphor for many of lifes issues, perhaps Vliet's mind was already turning towards the more graphic artistic representation.
Captain Beefheart may be an artist more suited for Mojo magazine and its fair to say he will never hold mass appeal but decades of critics and fans alike have found great inspiration in the music and 'Doc At The Radar Station', whilst not being an immediate record, contains enough gems and moments to give it a whirl.
Opening with 'Hothead' was a master stroke, the track strutting and funking like the Beefheart of old but infused with the sound of recent New York acts like Television. Vliets vocals contained all the menace up front as the guitars flickered like an enticing flame, gliding in and out, stoking the sense of anger and aggression.
Lyrically, Vliet was still on eccentric form and like the music, splits opinion as much today as it did back then. Imagery such as "You used me for an ashtray heart" is open to many interpretations but the way it is gnarled and spat at the listener indicates a sense of anger and unease in the Captains mind.
With a few jarring instrumental passages peppering the record, there is some respite from the intensity of Vliet's deliveries and for all the unconventional time-keeping of some of the pieces, there is a warmth of melody on the instrumentals that is perhaps missing in some of the fuller tracks. Not that theres anything wrong with the fuller tracks as the psychedelic phasing on songs like 'Sue Egypt' as it rattles and shimmies could make any jerky indie kid get on the dance floor.
Its hard to place albums like this context with regards as to recommending a purchase. Of course, Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band have made more famous albums and they have made albums that are considered more commercial but there is a charm to 'Doc At The Radar Station.' Its not an easy album and there is a tension and and emotion to a lot of the sound but after checking them out, this is one album that contains a lot of magic gems from the magic band.