Stories From Time And Space

When Hawkwind released their self-titled debut album in 1970, they seemed slightly behind the times, trading in sci-fi-tinged psychedelia at a time when the U.K. psych scene was fading out in favor of prog and art rock. Fifty-four years later, Hawkwind exist in a time zone all their own, having evolved with the passage of a few decades but still trading in their singular brand of space rock, with chugging guitars and buzzy electronics accompanying Dave Brocks tales of interplanetary sonic exploration. According to its accompanying press release, 2024s Stories from Time and Space is Hawkwinds 36th album (though the number is much higher if you add in all their live releases), and Brock was four months away from his 83rd birthday when it was released, so the albums lyrical concerns with how long these characters and their world can go on has a certain autobiographical undertow, even if the slightly doomstruck tone isnt that unusual for this band. (Theres also a love story involved, but dont feel bad if you dont immediately recognize it without reading the liner notes.) Hawkwind dont rock as hard in the year 2024 as they did in their prime, but Stories from Time and Space doesnt sound rote or weak-willed, either, and if theres nothing here quite like the ten-minute pulse/drone track that opened 2023s The Future Never Waits, Brock and his synth-playing bandmates Magnus Martin and Thighpaulsandra are still traveling the spaceways with their extended journeys into abstract soundscapes and serialist rhythms, especially on the triple-play of "Traveler of Time and Space," "Re-Generate," and "The Black Sea." The groups focus is tighter on more song-oriented tracks like "Cant Last Forever" and "The Tracker," but even the most conventional-sounding performances show Hawkwinds commitment to aural questing is as strong as ever. The music boasts a strong sense of adventure, while this edition of the band plays with an admirable blend of tight musicianship and eagerness to follow the spirit wherever it feels like leading them. Hawkwind still sound like themselves and nobody else on Stories from Time and Space, and if it doesnt break new ground, its the work of a band with interesting ideas and the talent and imagination to make something of them, which not many groups can manage, let alone one thats been doing this for more than half a century. ~ Mark Deming