Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 11/10/2009
This is one weird-ass album, and one that will probably become better known as time goes on and more people discover that it's a very early musical document of
Allan Holdsworth -- he was part of
'Igginbottom's Wrench along with
David Freeman on drums,
Steve Robinson on the other guitar, and
Mick Skelly on bass.
'Igginbottom's Wrench, their one and only album, bears about the same relationship to
Holdsworth's later work that
The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp does to
Robert Fripp's work, and it's curious that both albums are on the same label.
'Igginbottom's Wrench also sounds a lot like
GG&F, kind of arty, theatrical
psychedelia with some prominent
jazz influences weaving in and out, but none of it taken seriously enough to be played or sung especially well, and it's easy to see how this recording got overlooked in 1969. It's mostly notable for the presence of
"Golden Lakes," which evolved into
"Velvet Darkness" and loomed ever larger in the decades to come. This shows
Holdsworth at his least precise and pretentious, not in great form instrumentally or vocally (but not bad, either), noodling around in a less-than-formal setting and calling it an album. It's great fun and it will probably delight
Holdsworth's fans, and anyone into late-'60s
progressive rock or
jazz/
rock fusion.
~Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
;)
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