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Reviews

Bakery — Momento
(Radioactive RRCD028, 1972/2006, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2005-09-01

Momento Cover art

While they are not entirely typical of the proto-progressive bands of their time, the Australian band Bakery does represent that brief period when the psychedelic rock of the 60s was giving way to the expanded forms and arrangements of 70s prog. This was the band’s second album, recorded in 1971 and released the following year. Some elements of ordinary pub-rock remain, and they lapse into unremarkable boogie or blues territory a few times, but the quality of the longer tracks more than offsets that. “Living with a Memory” and “The Gift” are very strong extended pieces featuring multiple sections. I’m sometimes reminded of the band Flash, or Gnidrolog with less sax, or a less quirky early Split Enz. The songwriting credits split pretty evenly between guitarist Peter Walker and vocalist Mark Verschuer. The other prominent contributor to the sound is Rex Bullen on piano and organ, who gets in some excellent moments with and without added fuzztone. Four of the five members sing, and the quality of the vocals varies from nearly annoying to quite good — it sounds like the lead is not always the same person (though presumably Verschuer predominates). This reissue is typical of the Radioactive releases I’ve seen: no liner notes, copyright, or supplementary or information at all, just a tiny copy of the inner and outer gatefold sleeve. Still, it’s great to see a lost relic of Australian rock recovered from obscurity, and the sound quality is quite acceptable.

Filed under: Reissues, Issue 32, 2006 releases, 1972 recordings

Related artist(s): Bakery

 

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