The premature demise of UFO left a rather large hole in my life. Partly because I was travelling to Athens to see the band’s final show at the Fuzz Club (I still had a very nice little break in the Greek Capital) and partly because the news that singer Phil Mogg had suffered heart complications left that inevitable chill in the bones. This was the second band I saw live back in 1983, and although I never caught the classic lineup, I saw them many times over the following 35+ years, and they always resonated.
Phil Mogg – Moggs Motel (Steamhammer / SPV)
Release Date: 6 September 2024
Words: Paul Hutchings
It was with some joy that I got to interview Phil Mogg not that long ago, and we discussed the arrival of new music from the man himself. I admit to being a little excited about that news, and the arrival of the advance copy of the album has not disappointed in the slightest.
Phil Mogg has teamed up with long-time associate Neil Carter and Voodoo Six bassist Tony Newton (currently cutting shapes with KK’s Priest) to craft 12 songs that stretch casually over the best part of an hour. Described as timeless, they all carry Mogg’s laid-back vocal, which is instantly recognisable. His expressive style and soulful delivery sound as creative and impressive today as back on the Phenomenon album in the early ’70s.
Of course, he has adapted his style somewhat, but listen to the bookend of opener Apple Pie and closing track Storyville, and you will find two songs that bear many similarities but also massive differences. Such is the Mogg way.
Having planted the seeds of the album following a meeting with Newton at the US embassy whilst waiting for visas some five years ago, and as the connection between Newton, Mogg and Carter developed, the trio found themselves with time to create due to the pandemic.
With songs that were lurking in archives and maybe not suitable for UFO brought to the table by Mogg, the result is ultimately Moggs Motel. Adding drummer Joe Lazarus and guitarist Tommy Gentry to the mix, one thing you will not mistake this for is a UFO album.
Although Mogg’s distinctive voice is all over Moggs Motel, the rock that is played here is far lighter in the main than the legendary band. Perhaps the hardest rocker of the album, Apple Pie, which kicks things off in fine style, could drop into a UFO setlist. But, elsewhere, it is different variations of the rock theme which Mogg has longed to release for some time.
“Moggs Motel has been a kind of carte blanche for me,” Phil says, “because there were no musical guidelines or expectations from our fans, record company or the media. From an artistic point of view, there were no given parameters, and that’s what makes the new album stand out.”
Lyrically, Mogg brings his usual mix of autobiographical and fictional commentary to the fore, his storytelling as powerful as ever. Sunny Side Of Heaven, the second single after Apple Pie is a brisk, bouncing rock track, whilst the slower smoulder of songs like Face Of An Angel with some ripping guitar work from Gentry works exceptionally well.
Indeed, there is not a song on Moggs Motel that I struggled with. The stomp of Tinker Tailor, the brief instrumental Harry’s Place, which could be an excerpt from a film score from the 1970s, and the longest song on the album, the emotion of Princess Bride, all provides different colours on a palette of magically written and created songs.
I’m still absorbing a release that I welcomed more than most in 2024. We may not get any live shows with this lineup, although never say never, but Moggs Motel proves that there is life in the old dog yet.
“I’ve always wanted to make an album like Moggs Motel,” Phil says. “After UFO had come to an end, it was like so many things in life: When one door closes, a new one opens somewhere else.”
