ROBYN HITCHCOCK

1967: Vacations In The Past (Tiny Ghost)

The title of the latest album by English singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock refers to its concept: a compilation of songs from the year of ‘flower power’, 1967: Vacations In The Past comprises covers of 11 songs first released in that year when Hitchcock was aged 14, plus a self-composed a title track.

With totemic ’67-vintage acts like Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks and The Move represented here, the album gets off to a faltering start with an undone version of Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade Of Pale, on which Hitchcock’s half-whispered vocals render this iconic song emotionless. A take on Pink Floyd’s See Emily Play works because Hitchcock is cut from a similar cloth as Syd Barrett, and the Beatles’ A Day In The Life is performed almost identically to the original and therefore can hardly fail, but the beautiful San Francisco by Scott Mackenzie has been stripped of all its depth. Vacations In The Past betrays Hitchcock’s limitations: though a cult name in psych and postpunk circles since the late 70s, he’s more songwriter than singer really.

words LYNDA NASH