Spirits Burning consists of over thirty musicians headed by American composer/producer Don Falcone. Behold The Action Man is their tenth album of 16 songs linked loosely under a vague pretext of being a "Space rock journey into Film Noir".
Hawkwind are a major influence on the sound - Falcone is a massive fan, collaborator/lyricist Roger Neville-Neil is heavily indebted to the late Robert Calvert while further contributions come from bassist Alan Davey and vocalist Bridget Wishart who were both once members of that band.
Another significant member of the cosmic collective is Gong's Daevid Allen who provides guitar and also sings on one track (Obelisk Of Fondue) where he adopts a faux French accent to croon gibberish such as "You are nothing more than a hired voyeur plunging through the keyhole".
Other contributors include ex-Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard
and Jsun Atoms of Portland's The Upsidedown who sings on This Mark You Made.
It opens with noodly Rendezvous At Lava Lounge replete with flute and congas and female singer Gitta Mackay repeating the album title ad nauseum.
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Lyrically, the songs range between banality and pretentiousness - the opening line from Stand And Deliver - "Dandy Dan was a highway man" -doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Synch, mellotron and electric guitar figure prominently in the mix and there are a few nice instrumental interludes like Internal Detective which hints at a trippy Batman theme and the ambient vibe of Hypnospy which also features a Chinese zither. More rock-orientated pieces like The Train are less appealing.
All told, this sprawling album stretches self-indulgently over 72 minutes and is only likely to be relished by the most dedicated prog-rock lovers.
Spirits Burning Website
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