Isotope

The “I-Own-Every-Record-You’d-Never-Buy” CD Consumer’s Guide has recently developed a somewhat strange fascination with progressive-influenced jazz fusion. Strange, I know. I usually like my rock and roll with a healthy dose of lyrical content. Lyrics certainly aren’t at the forefront of guitarist Gary Boyle’s Isotope, a three-record band from the UK's then-burgeoning Canterbury scene. The quartet’s self-titled debut, first released in 1974 on Gull Records, eschews words for a series of intricate jazz-flavored instrumentals. Armed with a serious set of musical chops—and a band name only a ‘70s mother could love—Isotope is more jazz than rock, its songs highlighted by a complex series of guitar and keyboard exchanges. The frantically-paced “Then There Were Four” is a brilliant opener, while both “Oh Little Fat Man” and “Honkey Donkey” further flex the band’s musical muscle. Acutely aware that speed kills, the band slows it down for a couple of sensitive ballads, including “Sunshine Park” and “Windmills and Waterfalls,” two brief but effective tracks. Isotope wasn’t a huge commercial success, but it does represent one of the genre’s more interesting efforts. Two more records followed—1975’s Illusion and Deep End from 1976—before Boyle split to pursue a solo career.

Notes: Here is an audio-only YouTube clip of “Then There Were Four” by Isotope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kdmuDmfMKg.