Review Revue: Spacemen 3 - Recurring

Recurring is the final album by Spacemen 3 -- released after their parting of ways -- and the third album of theirs I've covered in this space (see also here and here). I could talk about the band's acrimonious split and the genesis of Spiritualized, or the fascinating details behind Spacemen 3's Mudhoney cover and the split single that never was (or at least the details that are laid out on one of the least reference-laden Wikipedia pages I've ever seen), but I'm not going to. Instead I'm going to write what I'm thinking about, which is that a friend of mine died this week, and I know he was a Spacemen/Spiritualized fan, but I don't think we ever talked about this album and I have no idea what he thought of it, and now I probably never will. I know it's a cliche, but it's true: Life's short. Listen to music and talk to your friends while you can.

"Sonic's side - tho at times a bit vapid - does have a mighty appealing sound. Jason's, however, gives me the yawns, as did much of 'Playing w/Fire' - (an LP that had it not have had 'Revolution' would have not rated high in my book). So, yeah, I like it, but nowhere near as much as I did the 1st 2."

"Also on CD."

"These guys rule their narrow genre."

"Please, someone convince me this is good. The Mudhoneys version of 'W T H' ['When Tomorrow Hits'] is far superior to this one."

"Wha?! I think S-B's version whomps on M-Ho's."

"I'll convince you with a tire iron you bastard!"

"The cover art is especially good."

"It's a take-off on all that Brit acid house rave-up bullshit . . . or so they say."

"I'm bored . . . move this down. The more I listen, the less I regret their disbanding. (Sonic's side, still OK, tho.)"

"The more I hear, the more I like. My endorsement is wholehearted now."

"Let's fly away into a misty moist cloud of effervescent solitude."

"Quit smoking so much pot, Barry."

"Jealous, Don?"