Time Signature Rock with Rog & Pip...

Genre: proto-metal / hard rock

Rog & Pip is one of the names under which the songwriting duo Philip (Pip) Whitcher and Roger (Rog) Lomas of The Sorrows fame released their post-Sorrows music (other monikers being Renegade and Zips). Sadly, their post-Sorrows career did not amount to more than a couple of singles, but the folks over at Rise Above feel that Rog & Pip's music deserves more attention than it has received. Thus they have collected a number of songs made by Rog & Pip under various guises and compiled them in the form of the "Our Revolution" compilation, which is to be released in June this year.

The tunes collected on this release capture the goings on in the hard rock scene of the 70s, thus exploring heavy boogie rock, glam rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal. Rog & Pip seem particularly fond of heavy boogie rock, and 'Why Don't You Do What I Want', 'Rock With Me', and 'Hot Rodder' offer up boogie rock beats comparable to a Status Quo on steroids, while "My Revolution" combines boogie rock with aesthetics from heavier glam rock akin to T-Rex and Sweet. Going into rock 'n' roll territory,' A little Rock 'n' Roll' draws on classic rock 'n' roll and combines it with the sound of dirty 70s garage rock, while 'It's A Lonely World' is a bit of a boring ballad. In contrast, tunes like 'Evil Hearted Woman', 'From a Window', and 'War Lord' call upon dark and groovy Southern rock, while 'Why Do You Treat Me Like That?', which sounds like a combination of The Beatles and Thin Lizzy, is a more sophisticated and multilayered affair. 'Doin' Alright Tonight' is a catchy hard rock tune revolving around a riff that grabs you in the same way as the riffs from, say, 'Louie Louie' and 'Since You've Been Gone'. My favorite track, however, is 'Gold' which is a heavy and melodic early metal song with inklings of doom metal.

This release is a collection of fine hard rock and proto-metal tunes, some of which - like 'Gold', 'Evil Hearted Woman', 'From A Window', 'Doin' alright Tonight', 'War Lord', and 'Why Do You Treat Me Like That?' - are pretty damn good. Others are a bit sub par and do not at all hold up to the strong tracks.

Fans of The Sorrows and people with a general interest in early metal and 70s rock should definitely purchase this fine collection, which comes with an nice booklet which offers a history of Rog & Pip's musical careers accompanied by photos and a discography.