Agnes Strange - Strange Flavour

Very heavy, very humble, very mid-70s Blighty

The forgotten saga of Agnes Strange and their lost album is one bizarre tale. The result of an unlikely joint venture between a major label (RCA) and the Bird’s Next chain of real ale music pubs, the Southampton-based power trio’s one and only album sank without trace in 1975, thanks in large part to the winding down of the band’s bookers, the Dick James Agency.

Now reissued for the first time, it comes with three bonus tracks (the single mix of Give Yourself A Chance and outtakes Motorway Rebel and Strange Flavour), and boasts both UK and European sleeve art. This collector’s item, with its big, warm analogue sound feels like the sort of wholesome fare that once upon a time surfaced on Harvest or Vertigo. Stuck in the no man’s land between the hard rock boom of the late 60s/early 70s and the dawning of punk, and produced by early rock’n’roll devotee Dave Travis, Agnes Strange crank their hearty blue collar mix of heavy rock, blues and rock’n’roll with occasional nods towards Taste, The Groundhogs, Budgie and, in their more boogiefied moments, vintage Quo. Very much one for those who like their rock tough and unfussy, in a full-Englishbreakfast- for-the-ears kind of a way.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Rev-Ola | CR REV 207

Reviewed by Grahame Bent
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