While Straight From The Dick isn't on a par with The Beatles' Let It Be as far as significant post-split albums go, it is manifestly imbued with a similar level of musical dexterity, albeit far queerer and rougher-edged, and with no little absurdism to boot. Such a conclusion is far from immediate, though. To describe the defunct Scottish trio's coltish gumbo of rock, prog and jazz as demented is to do the mentally unhinged a disservice, so impenetrable is the logic that runs through the likes of Between A Sock And A Hard Place and Dog With Two Dicks. That's not to say this is a charmless record, but such is the grating incongruity between the puerility of the lyrics and the virtuosity of the playing you can't help but feel you are eavesdropping on a mercifully private joke most of the time. Like guitarist Bruce Wallace's other (superior) group Gastric Band, electrifying bursts of riff nirvana lurk within, but there's a swamp of turgid infantilism to wade through first.
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