Groovy Decay

AMG Review of Groovy Decay

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

For his second solo album, Robyn Hitchcock decided to work with producer Steve Hillage, a former member of Gong. Under his guidance, Hitchcock made an album that smoothed out his rough edges and obscured his quirks under layers of saxophones, trumpets, and processed guitars. Beneath the stilted production lay some of Hitchcock's weakest songs, most of which were underdeveloped melodically and lyrically. Some of the songs are worthwhile -- "The Cars She Used to Drive" is the best stab at slick new wave pop, while "Fifty Two Stations" and "St. Petersburg" are powerful -- but most of the album is simply lifeless. After its release, Hitchcock retired from music for nearly three years. In 1986, he released an alternate version of Groovy Decay, comprised mostly of songwriting demos, called Groovy Decoy.