aztec two step

AZTEC TWO STEP – Aztec Two Step

This album was a mainstay of the secondhand record shops that I frequented in the 80’s, with every shop having at least a couple of copies for sale. I never bothered trying it at the time, but thought that I would give it a chance now, and after hearing it I feel that its reputation as a poor seller is somewhat underserved. I always thought that the duo were British, but they actually come from the US, and this album is their 1972 debut. ‘Baking’ opens proceedings with an up-beat folk ditty, and ‘Killing Me’ is a gentle ballad, but it is the thundering ‘The Persecution And Restoration Of Dean Moriarty (On The Road)’ which is the band at their very best. As soon as I heard the opening chords I remembered it from an old Elektra compilation that I used to own, and it sounds as good today as it did then. ‘So Easy’ is a banjo-led country tune, short and sweet and quite fun, while ‘Prisoner’ is a more intense love song. ‘Strangers’ shows how well Rex Fowler and Neil Shulman’s voices blend together on a lovely ballad, and for ‘Almost Apocalypse’ they revisit the pace of ‘…Dean Moriarty’ for another rollicking country rocker. ‘Dancers All’ sees the return of the banjo, but this time used more sparingly to enhance the song and not just to make it more ‘country’. ‘Cockroach Cacophony’ and ‘Highway Song’ close the album with another couple of poignant ballads, with Shulman’s guitar-picking on latter being particularly eloquent. I don’t know if I would have like this had I picked up one of those copies that I saw thirty odd years ago, but as my tastes have matured I can appreciate that this is an excellent country/folk album, certain to appeal to anyone who has fond memories of America or Crosby, Stills & Nash.