Human Instinct “Pins In It” (Pye Records
1971)

The roots of this popular New Zealand band
spool all the way back to the late fifties. Still performing today, Human
Instinct not surprisingly encountered a few personnel changes over the years.
And considering how long they’ve been around, they’ve played a variety of
musical styles. But there’s no doubt Human Instinct’s most interesting and
creative period occurred in the late sixties and early seventies, when
“anything goes, when the whistle blows” was the prevailing policy of the times.

Here on the band’s third full-length album,
“Pins In It,” a visible Jimi Hendrix Experience influence dwells within the
premises. Stacked wall to wall with blazing six-string aerobics and banks of
howling feedback, complemented by spot on phrasings and inflections, the disc
acknowledges the deceased guitar master with care and respect while sneaking a
couple of daring dips and dents into the soup as well. As an example, the
celestial timbre of a flute is utilized on both the psychedelic sunshine pop of
“Rainbow World” and a cover of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song,” which captures the
progressive space rock side of Human Instinct in fine fettle.

Fastened tight with  flurries of funky grooves, bundles of bluesy
beats and acres of acid-addled action, “Pins In It” trembles and tumbles with
stirring instrumentation. Some creepy sound effects also figure in the
equation, giving the record an added edge of excitement and mystique. Had
“Pins In It” been granted global distribution, it would have surely
received regular rotation on hard rock radio stations everywhere.

Review made by Beverly Paterson/2013

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