Over the span of a few years, the Hawkwind offshoot band that call themselves Hawkestrel have pumped out a few albums for Cleopatra Records, and their latest effort is titled Chaos Rocks, which features eight new tracks plus yet another reworking of the Hawkwind classic "Silver Machine". On the album are former Hawkwind members Alan Davey, Nik Turner (whose contributes to new albums now a few years after his passing just keep adding up!), Bob Calvert, Simon House, Huw Lloyd-Langton, and Mick Slattery, alongside other guest starts such as William Shatner, Mick Taylor, Carmine Appice, Geoff Downes, Ginger Baker, and others. Now, as some of these folks are no longer with us, and no real explanation of when or where their contributions came from, makes for a puzzling experience to say the least. As for the album itself, it's what you would expect from Hawkestrel, and that is Hawkwind-styled space rock, with songs dripping with synth washes, blips, beeps, repetitive drum beats, chunky guitar riffs, effects-laden vocals, and some nice spacey guitar solos. "Kinnikinnick Special" is probably the strongest piece here, a nice slice of space rock with some effective synth layers and nice guitar soloing, and the title track is a fun rocker highlighted by Turner's trademark sax bursts. Elsewhere, "2019 OK"is pretty groovy and jazzy, and both "Walking the Wheel" and "Class One Kid" have their moments, the latter a pretty rocking track with that classic Hawkwind vibe.
Overall, the jury is out on whether we need more Hawkestrel releases considering that Hawkwind themselves crank out practically an album a year still, but, for those that can't get enough of the Hawkwind alumni making new space rock music, there's plenty to enjoy here.
Track Listing
1.
Near Earth Asteroid 02:24
2.
Evil Rock (2023 AD) 04:43
3.
Kinnikinnick Special 07:55
4.
Silver Machine 04:26
5.
Chaos Rocks 04:12
6.
Walking The Wheel 05:20
7.
2019 OK 04:49
8.
Class One Kid 06:38
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