This New York quartet bears some resemblance to bands like the (early) dB’s, whose Gene Holder produced both records; musically, however, the Individuals’ arty pretentiousness makes them sound like a poor copy of the Cure or a less aggressive Gang of Four.
Aquamarine‘s five numbers are spartan in both arrangement and melody. Despite characteristically sprightly guitars and simple drum figures, style supplants substance, and there’s nothing much lurking behind the hip artifice.
Fields has more fully realized sound, with good vocal harmonies and studio effects; still, the songs are unmemorable and the performances rather tepid. The one number that does stand out, “Dancing with My Eighty Wives,” is rather senseless, but mixes real songwriting acumen with an interesting arrangement — and a definite group identity for a change.
Individuals guitarist/singer Glenn Morrow followed his muse into Rage to Live and then co-founded Bar/None Records; Janet (bass/vocals) and Doug (drums) Wygal formed a band that bears their surname and then went on to other projects; guitarist Jon Klages went on to play solo and with Richard Lloyd.