Mugstar

Lime Important/Agitated****

Mugstar avoid the kind of inevitable comparisons that come with being from Liverpool by being in no way influenced by the Fab Four. Rather, think the lairy Ladbroke Grove ensemble of anarcho-hippies known as Hawkwind (whose latest release, by pure coincidence, is reviewed opposite). The four tracks on Lime, originally released on the Massachusetts label Important but now due for reissue on Agitated, reference early Hawkwind of 1970's self-titled debut album and the wonderful 1971 follow-up, In Search of Space. In other words, there's a whole lotta mantra-mode, psych-driven drone goin' on, as the seven minutes of track one, Sunburnt Impedance Machine, segues into the 13 minutes of track two, Serra, which in turn melts into . . . well, you get the drift. This is superior Krautrock that operates very efficiently in the realm of the dreamy senses. Set the controls, etc. See mugstar.com

Download tracks: Serra, Radar King