Fifty Foot Hose's
Cauldron is erratic but fascinating. When married to routine blues-rock, the electronic squiggles seem to be covering up the inadequacy of the basic material, and the occasional bleats of pure electronic passages will bore rock-oriented listeners. Yet when combined with lilting-but-disquieting jazz-psychedelic compositions, like the title track and "If Not This Time," it's genuinely original, similar in feel to the oscillation-toned rock of
the United States of America (though
the U.S.A.'s one-shot album was more consistent and smoothly produced). [Phoenix issued a limited edition in 2008.] ~ Richie Unterberger