LHS are the initials of one Lord Hebert Sarongster, otherwise known as Herbie from Rochee and the Sarnos. This is the third full-length album involving Herbie but is his first solo outing. The album features Batmobile on three songs and on the remainder of the tracks Mark Black plays drums whilst the rest of the instrumentation is provided by Boz Boorer. I would like to say at the outset that I like this album very much. The title ‘Think Pynk’ is a nod to positivity in place of the dark, black thoughts that have unfortunately plagued Herbie for much of his life. The album taken, as a whole, is very well-played and produced and the vocal performance from Herbie throughout is top-drawer. There is a tremendous purity, and also a sense of fragility to Herbie’s voice that is reminiscent of Gene Vincent. 

The album kicks off with the splendid rocker ‘Aleistair Couldn’t Rock and Roll’ with nice guitar solos by Boz and some nifty fills by Mark Black.

LHS Is Taking Over Your World is the first song of three to be played with Batmobile. According to Herbie, the song was ‘written by Jeroen, with a few slight word changes from me, it’s a very self-assured number and a tad immodest, but we love it!

‘Ding Dong Daddy’ is another superb rocker. It features some great guitar work and nice backing vocals. 

‘I’m On The Train Agan’ sees Herbie in more reflective mood. He writes: ‘this is my love/hate paean to ADHD and Autism, the repetition in this song is sometimes what my head is like – going round again, round and round again.’

‘Dr Dirty’ is a dark and dirty groover of a number with excellent backing vocals. The song is about doctors that take advantage of their patients.

‘It’s a Sin’ ‘written by Jeroen, again with a few slight word changes from me, for those times when you miss and need your gal or guy (just substitute the lyrics!).’ It has a sort of Alvin Stardust quality to the vocals.

‘The Man Who Stamps on Kittens’ manages to effectively create a mismatch between the subject content which is brutal with quite a cheery country tune featuring lap steel guitar. . ‘LHS – for megalomaniacs everywhere… “Pressure” is a little nod to Nic Roeg’s film Performance’

‘Rochee in the Batmobile’ is another good groover “written by Jeroen … it’s about rockin’ it with Batmobile (which we did!)’

‘I’m the Ghost of Rochee Sarno’ sees Herbie in reflective mood again ‘This song was a rumination on my time in the Sarnos and how I reacted to the loss of my parents during lockdown, the Ghost of myself struggling with myself and the weird machinations in my head, not just then, but always. Sometimes they nearly got the better of me, but now I’m on top of my game (ish).’

We then have a sort of Blues bopper called ‘Sarno Fever’. In Herbie’s own words, this song is, ‘back to where it all began, the circle is finally squared, the final version of the song. Wriggled right across the dance floor? I used to do that at Barney and Rik’s Starboard Flange Club.’

 The album concludes with the incredibly mellow ‘Fearless’ a real left-field choice, a cover of a Pink Floyd song from 1971 – ‘a song that has always resonated with me, ever since it was released. Helped me through the loss of my parents as I used to play it for Daddy and he loved it. Boz “bluesed” it up a bit and we love the vibe it now has. It’s the final track on the album and a song of hope for the future.’

This is a fantastic album from one of the legends of the scene. Buy it and play it loud, even if you are not normally much of a cranker, crank it up and let the mellifluent sounds envelop you.

Nick Kemp

LHS Presents… Think Pynk! is available to buy here.