Roy Loney & The Phantom Movers - A Hundred Miles An Hour: 1978-1989

Reignited Groovy on a low flame

Conspicuous by his absence after leaving The Flamin’ Groovies in 1972, it wasn’t until the end of the decade that founding member Loney made his way back to a recording studio. But while his former work buddies evolved and embraced varied stripes of guitar rock, Roy seemed stuck in a voodoo rockabilly rut.

Not that it would have bothered him too much as, never one to take the notion of rock’n’roll as a career too as Love Is A Spider and Panic To A Manic Degree. On a preposterous yet charming calypso reworking of Elvis Presley’s Return To Sender, Loney struggles to suppress his own giggles.

It’s a ragged body of work with seriously spiralling dips in quality, though the tongue-in-cheek strut, Least Magnificent Moment Of My Life, is worthy of more than a couple of spins. Ultimately, the amateurish “will this do?” ethos is a tad too nerve-grating, Loney’s wacky character never strong enough to entirely forgive the missteps. seriously, humour was always a Loney hallmark. Much of this compilation sounds like the work of a caucasian Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, packed with such throwaway garage-esque trifles

2 stars 2 stars

Raven | RVCD 305

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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