Panama Limited
Album: Indian Summer
Label: Esoteric
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.cherryred.co.uk

Well, if you thought PLJB oddball, then the band's second outing on Harvest, which signalled a major change in musical direction (and lineup - Rob, Liz and Pete having departed), could be termed even weirder. Although still part-acoustically driven, much of the band's output now resembled a lost Beefheart album that might've been made between Strictly Personal and Trout Mask Replica.

The focus of the material they performed shifted away from the primitive authenticity of the country-blues and jugband (that word was dropped from the group name), and the mantle fell increasingly on the songwriting of Denis, who was "severely affected" by Beefheart and even sounded like him on many of the LP's tracks!

Cuts like Eastern Man and Citadel Chapters centred around pounding Magic Band-style riffs and weird twisted motifs, whereas the bleaker slide-blues vibe came into its own on Woman I Love and Moonshine was as un-commercial an album opener as you'd have been likely to encounter in 1970 when the album was released. Its title track, which turned the vocal spotlight on Anne Matthews (now a full-time group member in place of Liz), was a timely slice of prog-folk, and the sense of ensemble togetherness here and on the rest of the album is remarkably coherent, with a sound and general feel quite removed from the raw gutbucket vibe of PLJB (except on the rather rambling 12-bar closer, Laughing) - but no less attractive in its own way.

The occult-inflected Darkness Brings introduced psych-folk sounds of harpsichord and bowed double bass to the mix, while the insistent ostinato bass line pumping out the riff of Dangle Wild even looked forward to Talking Heads' Psycho Killer! OK, it was a slightly uneven album in purely musical terms, a touch inconsistent in its vision, but there wasn't a weak track. Appended to this fine remastered reissue are bonus cuts in the shape of both sides of the Round And Round single, which, though useful to have, don't really add much to the picture. What a shame that the band fell apart soon after the release of album number two.

David Kidman