Bodast - Towards Utopia (1969 uk, fascinating mod psych beat, 2017 remaster)

The quartet—also featuring drummer Bobby Clarke, bassist Dave Curtis and frontman Clive Skinner—remain one of rock’s true tragedies, disintegrating shortly after their sessions with producer Keith West. Towards Utopia, Esoteric’s remastered compilation, showcases a band at the crux of the fading psych movement and the burgeoning prog-rock scene, with Howe’s instrumental heroics edging the songs toward the latter camp. 

The plainest proof is “Nether Street,” a guitar workout that later formed the foundation of “Würm,” the final section of the Yes epic “Starship Trooper.” (For Yes fans, it’s a trip hearing “Nether Street” open with that triumphantly strummed acoustic guitar climax—it’s like watching a sex scene played in reverse.) There are other glimpses of what Bodast could’ve become: “Mr. Jones” sounds like a lost mid-period Beatles tune with a virtuoso guitarist on deck; “Do You Remember” is a disorienting hybrid of proto-prog, proto-punk and country-rock. 

There’s a fascinating friction between Skinner’s pop-molded voice and Howe’s violent guitar eruptions, and it’s a shame that Bodast didn’t survive long enough to refine that formula. But in retrospect, we can appreciate the band on their own merits—as a pivotal launching pad for one of prog’s signature talents. 

by Ryan Reed, January 30, 2018