Olé! Tarantula

Just two more albums to go in the full Robyn Hitchcock discography, and three days remaining in March, so things are heading to a close. Robyn's second Yep Roc album, Olé! Tarantula, marked his return to Soft Boys/Egyptians style electric rock. He recorded it in late 2005 in Seattle with the Venus 3 -- Peter Buck (guitar), Scott McCaughey (bass), and Bill Reiflin (drums) -- backing him up, and it came out the following year.

Buck, McCaughey, and Rieflin are also 3/4ths of the Minus Five and 3/5ths of the touring version of R.E.M., and Olé! Tarantula was recorded just after the conclusion of the Around The Sun tour. Olé! Tarantula is almost like a reaction to ATS, attempting to be everything that that album isn't. It's also a U-turn from Robyn's previous album Spooked, taking the same collaborative feel to a ROCK album. My favorite songs on Jewels For Sophia were the ones he did with these guys, so I was looking forward to this album, and had it in heavy rotation for a long time after it came out.

It's hard to judge things after just a couple of years, but I think Olé! Tarantula is one of my favorite Robyn Hitchcock ever did. I think it's stronger than any Egyptians album, and any solo record except possibly I Often Dream Of Trains. It's something I can listen to at any time, I've had it on my iPod for two years straight, and like almost every song, even the six plus minute "Belltown Ramble" and the jokey "A Man's Got To Know His Limitations, Briggs". There are songs (like "Authority Box" and "Red Locust Frenzy") that I tend to skip when they come up in shuffle play, but the album flows well from start to finish. Plus it rocks.

I think the first half of the album (through the title track) is a solid block of greatness. The first song "Adventure Rocket Ship" is up there with "I Wanna Destroy You" as an all time RH album opener. It came out as a single (whatever that means in the 21st century) with a cool video, and sounded like a hit to me.



Also worth picking up (or clicking down) is the bonus EP Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas which has these videos plus a batch of live songs by the Venus Three, and the Sundance documentary "Sex, Food, Death, and Insects" which recently came out on DVD. Good stuff all around.