Released one year after
Re-Hash,
RU Spaced Out 2 sees
the Magic Mushroom Band getting back on track. It seems that the group's ambient/trance tendencies have found an outlet in the off-shoot project
Astralasia. Even though the title builds a bridge over
Re-Hash to the 1991 album
Spaced Out,
RU Spaced Out 2 is hardly a sequel. In fact, most traces of the ambient instrumentals have vanished and the music rocks harder than it ever has in the previous three years. If anything, the respectful cover of
Hawkwind's "Hurry on Sundown" provides a sign: this album puts the rock back into space rock. "Remember Your Future," "Dandelion Parachute," and "Herbs and Spice" all allude to '60s U.S. psychedelic pop, with bass, drums, and freak guitar pushed upfront. Freed from the programming and loops, Swordfish's drumming is lively and fanciful, especially in "Hubbly Bubbly" and "Thought Train," two short Latin-tinged instrumentals strongly reminiscent of early
Santana (Garry Moonboot's slow-moving guitar theme in "Hubbly Bubbly" reinforces the impression). The (synth) string-heavy ballad "Life Is So Strange" stretches out just a bit too long, but it provides a good showcase for the slide guitar of Ed Bones. It is also the most straightforward track of the set. Not quite as compelling as
Spaced Out which, despite -- or thanks to -- its schizophrenic identity, conveyed a vital kind of energy,
RU Spaced Out 2 represents a very honest effort nonetheless. ~ François Couture