Spirogyra, despite being named after algae, were fairly important players in the teeming waters of the 70s folk pond. Highly original in terms of songwriting and delivery, and grounded by the beautiful voice of Barbara Gaskin, they forged, on the back of this debut, a large cult following on the underground circuit. It’s wilfully different, right from the bizarre narrative opener The Future Won’t Be Long, but soon gives way to more subtle oddities such as Magical Mary, which, halfway through, abandons Martin Cockerham’s shouty delivery for Gaskin’s honey-like voice and becomes a masterpiece of 70s folk-rock.
Spirogyra were musical extremists, and much of St Radigunds has them toying at the edges of what they would later realise to incredible effect on the now much rarer album Bells, Boots & Shambles, an album long overdue the reissue treatment. St Radigunds is, however, a classic in its own right and is made no worse by the addition here of a bonus track, the single Dangerous Dave. Due to make the inevitable comeback in the near future, Spirogyra remain an odd, but lovable English folk institution.
