Rating: 7 out of 10
Personnel:
Twink-drums, vocals
Paul Rudolph-guitar, bass, vocals
Junior Wood-bass
Wally Allen-piano
John Povey-sitar, mellotron
Steve Peregrine Took-guitar, percussion, vocals
Viv Prince-drums (on “Mexican Grass War”)
Track Listing:
Side One
1. The Coming of the Other One (Twink)
2. Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box (Twink/Wood)
3. Dawn of Majic (Twink)
4. Tiptoe on the Highest Hill (Twink)
5. Fluid (Twink)
Side Two
6. Mexican Grass War (Twink)
7. Rock and Roll the Joint (Twink)
8. Suicide (Twink)
9. Three Little Piggies (Took/Twink)
10. The Sparrow Is a Sign (Took/Twink)
This album is really good, as long as you enjoy trippy, drum heavy madness. Twink was one of the leaders of the British psych scene, and is much better known for his work as a drummer for the bands Tomorrow, Pretty Things, and the Pink Fairies, all of whose material is much more accessible than Twink’s solo output, which is often quite drum-centric and very experimental. However, there are some absolute gems nested amongst some of the experimental instrumentals on this album, and even those songs can grow on you if you give them the chance (and several listens). However, the album is a little uneven, and side two is definitely much weaker than side one, which is why it only scores a seven out of ten in my ratings.
Think Pink opens with one of the aforementioned gems, “The Coming of the Other One,” which is an excellent introduction to the album and features Twink speaking (and sometimes screaming) about a coming apocalypse that will arrive “in the year 1999 and seven months,” over a backdrop of strange, often manic noises, which sets the crazy mood of the album quite well. Following “The Coming of the Other One” is the strongest song on the entire album, “Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box,” which is actually a new version of the song, which was originally released by Twink and Junior Wood as a single in 1968, under the band name, the Aquarian Age. This song is an attack on their former band mate in Tomorrow, Keith West, and features excellent, psychedelic guitar work, spacey vocals, and mystical lyrics with apparent contradictions in each line. Next up is “Dawn of Majic,” which is a short, spacey, Indian-influenced instrumental. “Dawn of Majic” is followed by another great song, “Tiptoe on the Highest Hill.” This song is very spacey, but manages to evoke a painful beauty at the same time, highlighted by the switch from double tracked vocals on the verses to the single tracked chorus of “I cried.” Side one concludes with “Fluid,” an instrumental coupling some nice guitar work with a moaning female voice, seeming to be in a sexual ecstasy, which produces a cool effect.
Side two opens with another instrumental, “Mexican Grass War,” which is an anarchic, drum-centric piece that has its best moments when the drums are augmented with some guitar and yelping in the background. Next is “Rock and Roll the Joint,” another instrumental, though this time dominated by guitars doing a cool call and response thing. However, it gets a little repetitive. “Rock and Roll the Joint” is followed by “Suicide,” which is the best song on side two. “Suicide” is a captivating acoustic piece, containing a unique combination of up-tempo, almost upbeat, verses and a slow, spooky, and sad chorus. After “Suicide,” the album begins to peter out. The next song is the chaotic “Three Little Piggies,” which shows Twink and Steve Took having a bit of off the cuff fun, but adds nothing of substance to the album. Finally, Think Pink concludes with “The Sparrow Is a Sign.” While this song is very good, it is totally out of place on a Twink album, since it was written by Steve Took, who also sings lead vocals on it. “The Sparrow Is a Sign” is possibly the best song that Steve ever wrote, but it just doesn’t fit well stylistically with the rest of the album, which all comes from the brain of Twink, and it is rumored that Twink placed this song on the album as a favor to Steve, who was unable to release his own material while he was a part of Tyrannosaurus Rex.
And links to the songs:
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