Spacehog have really lived and acted like rock stars, but haven’t really grown to such levels. The first release, Resident Alien, gave birth to their first taste of fame with the single “In The Meantime”, but it was The Chinese Album that got them acclaim among their own. Personally, I still think The Chinese Album is amazing, but I don’t know many of my peers who feel the same way. So now comes their follow-up, The Hogyssey.
Royston Langdon brings his obscure yodel back from the land of the missing and hits a few notes on the head. “Jupitar Moon” opens with a dog-faced verse, but the chorus with its overly used tremolo guitar gets lost behind its annoyance. “This Is America” is an overly dramatic, ’80’s stinker. It’s supposed to be poignant, but it’s a bit dated even if it’s true. No one wants to hear some guy living in a plush estate telling us about crack and how you get guns pulled on you at every turn. It’s an anthem that never hits the mark no matter how hard they try.
It takes until track three for Spacehog to finally do a little impressing. “I Want To Live” still doesn’t live up to past glories even though its quite catchy. The biggest problem is that it sounds like some revamped Spacehog song, or perhaps someone else’s release. “Dancing On My Own” is cute, but really held my attention for only enough time to get the first chorus under my belt.
Spacehog finally musters up skills that hadn’t failed them so in the past to produce the tender “The Strangest Dream”. It’s quite simple as the piano follows a steady path allowing Royston to let his voice get loose. Not even the addition of another disc with two songs added, the best of which is “Hung Like A Sheep For A Lamb”, can really save The Hogyssey. For a fan, this is a mighty letdown.
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