The Groundhogs
Live at the Astoria

THE REVIEW

If I had to summarize the Groundhogs, or the emaciated guitarist/singer Tony McPhee, in a single expression, I would use the following simple words: dignified losers. In the explosion of British blues from '68 onwards, they had some moments of good recognition (see the peak of fame immortalized in the Live At Leeds '71, alongside the increasingly wasted Rolling Stones), especially in the trilogy (for me, essential) of Thank Christ For The Bomb - Split - Who Will Save The World?. With that trio of works, the groundhogs pressed an hard-blues occasionally tinged with psychedelia and progressive cries, finding their ideal dimension.

Then, oblivion: Zeppelin swept away even the first division of the genre, let alone McPhee's ensemble, who in the meantime managed by throwing himself into the experiments of Hogwash, an album not particularly appreciated. Then, with few breaks, the guitarist continued to carry on this little name with albums quite similar to each other, live releases for few enthusiasts and little else.

The "Live At The Astoria", which presents a performance from 1998, is the sum of what had been expressed in the previous thirty years: a sincere, passionate, raw and delightfully "old" music. McPhee appears in a trio with Chipulina (bass) and Correa (drums), and records an hour of very healthy blues rock. The pieces vary (do they vary?) from original compositions to adaptations, notably the splendid and very hard "Eccentric Man", the pair "Split pt.1 - pt.2", "Cherry Red" and a couple of W. Dixon classics, "Shake For Me" and "Down In The Bottom". The music you hear is homogeneous or even monothematic, with the pounding rhythm section and the guitar getting lost and found again in logorrheic phrasing, only at times punctuated by vocal parts, almost accessory. McPhee's guitar style, albeit indebted to the psychedelic influence that affected Hendrix and Cream, reflects a sincere dedication to Music itself, with his abrasive riffs sometimes strictly classic (the traditional "Groundhog Blues"), other times noisy and acidic. For enthusiasts, it's an understatement, but enthusiasts can enjoy.