Squawk is one of my favorite records of all time - almost every track on here is stellar and it includes quite possibly my favorite Budgie track of all time, 'Hot As A Docker's Armpit,' a bluesy, driving riff with many different sections, a perfect combination of prog and hard rock.
From the first notes of 'Whiskey River' to the fast, driving 'Stranded', this album is damn near a rock masterpiece. The raw recorded sound along with the aggressive playing and stellar and gutteral song writing makes this a record I never get tired of listening to. Tony Bourge's guitar sound is at its most expressive and deep - haunting almost on riffs for 'Rocking Man' and 'Drugstore Woman.' It was certified Gold in 1973 and remains in my eyes one of the greatest albums Budgie made.
I snagged this copy at the CHIRP Record Fair back a few months ago and it was the only Budgie album there out of the many, many thousands of records. Trust me - I looked through every bin there and spent something like 4 hours flipping records, looking for rarities. I did also fine Ramatam's In April Came The Dawning Of The Red Suns and a Japanese Cream VHS, an amazing documentry done by Atlantic Japan in the 1980's, both of which will be getting their own write-up here at some point. CHIRP will also be at Pitchfork in July with a record fair there again from what I can tell and I'll be there for sure.
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