SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS – The Phantom of Canton – review

SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS – The Phantom of Canton – review
Hip Replacement Records

So, here we are, with the 50 somethingth record from the Soft Hearted Scientists, including live releases, compilations and songs left under a dolmen on Michaelmas. I’ve probably only got half their records, so don’t count myself as any kind of expert. In anything. But, let’s go!

An unnecessary exclamation point, as it’s not really That Sort of Thing. No, it’s that very British strain of psychedelia, that was born one autumnal evening in 1967 when Figgy from the Upper Sixth popped some of his Mums ‘special’ pills into the sixth form tea urn.

What’s it about? Well, let’s turn to the band themselves for a clearer explanation;

“loosely speaking a psychedelia infused concept album of sorts, dealing with themes such as alienation, lost love, and the sometimes high personal price of obsessively pursuing creative projects, or indeed any job or calling.”

That’s cleared things up nicely. So it’s a non-concept, concept album about stuff. Fortunately, the songs are up to the usual calibre of Soft Hearted Scientists offerings. They’ve always been good at coming up with melodies, even in their more esoteric offerings. And in-between the psychy swooshes, there’s always something you can grab onto, as the merry-go-round starts to spin.

If I were a Radio 1 pop picker in 1969, I’d have been playlisting the title track and ‘Hello, Hello’, both of which would have sat nicely on the leading, 18 months behind the times, radio station of choice. They’re both lovely tunes, with the latter being particularly uplifting.

Song title of the album goes to ‘The Canyon (Smile of the Sun Eyed Woman)’. Yup, you read that right. It’s very proto country rock right up until the moment that all the organs decide to smash into all the other organs in a destructive organ pit. Which makes it, quite possibly, my favourite song on the record. I love an organ, me.

Elsewhere, there are love songs, death songs, Anthony Newley impersonations, Moog (which I will always pronounce Moog, not Moog), and some ruminations on the meaning of life. So, another day at the coal face for the Soft Hearted Scientists. It’s a tremendous release and, as is their wont, there are a variety of strange format releases for you to puzzle over. Go get some.

This is a link to the Soft Hearted Scientists buy the record page.