Apocalyptic space rock your manna from heaven? This eccentric collective deliver the goods: former members of one of the genre's masters - Hawkwind - they carry both the medals and the scars.

Latest release 'Otherworld' makes for a smoother passage than the Hawks' 70's masterpieces; the production is rich, almost ripe, and the spoken word passages and jazzy instrumental interludes engaged to drive a eco political narrative veer at times toward the pastures of 'new age'.

What lifts the album are those moments when the band gets to what it does best: full-on sonic attack with Capt. Nik Turner's jabbered vocal almost buried in a wall of trademark synthesisers, squalling guitars, honking sax driven by waves of heavy bass and the good time-keeping of Terry Ollis's steady, insistent drumming.

The space cadets of Hawkwind are seasoned travellers now; mercifully they've not come down to earth yet. Still capable of whipping up a storm in the galaxy of their collective head, still out there ...

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Review by Peter Muir