Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Budgie
Label: Repertoire Records
Release: 1972
The second album from the famed rock’n’roll “budgies” Budgie out of Wales, titled “Squawk”, already offered sharper contours and a clearer picture of a band in growth, one that was hunting for its own little corner under the open sun inside a mix of bluesy elements, blended with adrenaline-fueled rock ‘n’ roll riffing and occasional bursts of semitone-twisted melodic psychosis. In bands leaning heavily this way (Black Sabbath, Pentagram), that psychosis would go on to mean the birth of a whole new current and genre.
The album comes with a superb piece of artwork by the famous Roger Dean, known for similar cover work for bands like Badger, Yes, Uriah Heep, Asia, Gun,… On the cover we can spot a special jet aircraft with a bird skull, which makes for a direct parody of the record’s title “Squawk” (a nod to the “Hawk” jet model, while the title itself can also be read as the bird’s chirping “squawk”). The cover also ties in perfectly with Budgie themselves, since it matches their basic provocative, black-humor approach, which adorns the band in its own special way and holds a unique place in Budgie’s artistic expression throughout their career.
Burke Shelley says that during this period he listened to a lot of The James Gang with Joe Walsh. Whiskey River was written directly under that inspiration. Rocking Man points to an original combination, merging that semitone-based motif setup with a flowing rock n’ roll chorus riff! It’s followed by two shorter acoustic numbers, which are completely different in atmosphere, so it doesn’t bother at all that they sit back to back on the record. The first is the cheeky Rolling Home Again, the second the deeper and subtler Make Me Happy. Hot As A Docker’s Armpit carries one of the record’s most famous riffs and, much like Whiskey Woman, points to the band’s growing artistic identity, which was moving toward polished, compact riffs at the expense of fewer long instrumental improvisations. Along this path, Shelley’s distinctive voice and singing approach also gain importance, becoming more and more expressive within the songs themselves.
Most of the atmosphere carried over from the debut onto “Squawk” comes together in Young Is A World, a song that’s essentially acoustic-driven, grows atmospherically and then suddenly explodes in a dramatic riff, with a classic solo that recalls what Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin) meant at the time, only in Budgie’s hands with a lot more rebellious, raw dynamite. And since we’re already drawing parallels with Led Zeppelin, the record closes with Stranded, which leans hard on that band. That goes for the structure of the main riff, the beat and the way the melody is brought into the soloing itself. Unlike that comparison, though, Stranded packs a full dose of cheekiness and silliness, a trademark of Budgie and one of the most appealing parts of the band’s character.
The album was recorded in just two weeks, which for the band is a “huge” step forward, given that they’d learned at least a smidge of patience and put a smidge more effort into polishing the new material compared to the first album, whose material was recorded in only four days.
“Squawk” has less psychedelia and fewer instrumental experiments than “Budgie”, with more direct riffs that are also known for being more polished and refined than on the predecessor. That holds for the whole structure of the individual songs too, from which the separate motifs now stick out much more nicely on “Squawk”, which also shows in how much more compact the songs are. The album doesn’t have as gloomy a production as the debut, though a touch of darkness would cling to Budgie throughout their career. The new production is a bit sharper, built on a more directly emphasized guitar riff.
“Squawk” cemented the band’s status and reaped even greater success than the debut “Budgie” (1971). It brought a more noticeable breakthrough on the rock scene of the British Isles, mainly because it got more attention on local radio stations. This especially goes for the only single from this record, for the song Whiskey River. After that radio promotion helped them draw even more attention, Budgie were able to leave their “home turf” of South Wales and head out on their first tour of Great Britain, and even visit Europe.
Lineup
Burke Shelley – bass guitar, vocals
Tony Bourge – guitar
Ray Phillips – drums
Production
Roger Bain & Burke Shelley
Track list
1.Whiskey River
2.Rocking Man
3.Rolling Home Again
4.Make Me Happy
5.Hot as a Docker’s Armpit
6.Drugstone Woman
7.Bottled
8.Young is a World
9.Stranded
Trajanje albuma: 38:56
