Although the Buzzards (originally the Leyton Buzzards) appeared on the surface to be another London-area group of punk/reggae dilettantes, closer examination revealed the quartet to be, in fact, a subversive vehicle for satiric songwriters Geoff Deane (vocals) and David Jaymes (bass). Comprising all their recorded output, this seventeen-track retrospective is jammed with lively (if heavy-handed)…
Rising up from Los Angeles’ early new wave underground to become MOR stars, the Motels abandoned the world that launched them as soon as it was feasible to do so. At first committed to calculated oddness, they found success making bland, almost colorless sophisti-pop records. Both Motels and Careful present the group’s music on a…
One of the few artistic successes on producer Mike Chapman’s original Dreamland label, Nervus Rex epitomizes the bubblegum side of new wave pioneered by Blondie. The pace is brisk and the touch light on predictable yet pleasing throwaways like “Go Go Girl” and “The Incredible Crawling Eye.” As a perfect point of reference, the New…
Pat and Barbara K. MacDonald are wry, rueful observers of society’s ills; their dry, dusty voices have a down-home charm that makes up for occasional excesses in their lyrics. Using a rhythm box for backing, they burst out of the Austin, Texas, scene with the peppy, corrosively sarcastic hit “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta…
Dismissed by more than a few as a bad joke, London’s never-say-die Chelsea was one of the few original punk groups to forge a unique sound and survive. Their distinctiveness stems from the grunt’n’groan vocals of Gene October, the guiding force and only constant member through enough lineup changes to rival John Mayall’s role in…
For some reason, the lovable Dickies — a Mad magazine-flavored punk self-parody — never endeared themselves to as large an international cult as the Ramones. Perhaps this mob of San Fernando Valley zanies has always been too unserious and knowing of their own idiocy. Yet right after Green Day sold millions by cannibalizing a sound…
Heir to the existential angst of such late-’70s luminaries as John Lydon and Tom Verlaine, England’s Ian Lowery (whose first recorded musical strivings were with a late-’70s punk band, the Wall) talk-sings in that wonderfully curdled sneer we’ve heard a million times before. But few do it as well. Lowery has had his current moves…
Martha and the Muffins were originally clever amateurs who had fun fooling around with music in Toronto. However, the subtly catchy “Echo Beach” made them chart stars in the UK and brought their days of leisure to an abrupt halt. A minor miracle of this slick age, Metro Music captures a mild-mannered, unpretentious group at…
Under the innocuous name of Chrome, two San Franciscans — Damon Edge (vocals, synths, etc.) and Helios Creed (vocals, guitar, etc.), with part-time rhythm-section assistance by the Stench brothers of Pearl Harbor’s band — created an often awesome series of pre-industrial LPs that explore a dark state of mind only hinted at by ’60s psychedelia.…
And slam they do! When this breathless Midwestern quintet thanks the Damned in the liner notes, they aren’t kidding: their rip-snorting platter has the careening, free-for-all edge of those zany punk pioneers. It’s buzzy fun with a message: “Won’t Sell Out” champions integrity, while “It’s Alright to Show You CARE” proves the Watusis aren’t blank…
Led by guitarists Kim Kane and Marshall Keith, Washington, DC’s Slickee Boys have been scene stalwarts for a decade and a half; through a series of lineups they developed from a punky rock’n’roll band with an affection for classic English forebears into a far more individualistic and distinctly American band with their own ideas. Featuring…
Since the shuttering of San Franciscan political punk provocateurs Dead Kennedys in the late ’80s, Jello Biafra (the onetime Eric Boucher of Boulder, Colorado) has continued to ply his prankster-cum-missionary trade with spoken-word records and numerous intriguing musical collaborations. Until he was set upon by skinheads and seriously injured in the fabled East Bay 924…
Like Joy Division and the Cure, Sheffield’s Comsat Angels mastered the art of atmospherics; only nominally involved in rock’n’roll at the outset, they were actually interested in creating haunting mood music. Firm beats play against melancholy melodies and hushed vocals to create the impression of eavesdropping on someone’s inner turmoil, an approach which is morosely…
Singer Marc Almond and keyboardist David Ball performed a minor miracle in 1981, taking an obscure soul song and turning it into a most atypical synthesizer tune, coming up in the process with a worldwide smash hit that rode Billboard‘s chart for almost a year. “Tainted Love” (written by Ed Cobb but known in its…
“Imperfect records for an imperfect world” proclaims the back cover of Compare and Decide, an indication of the solemnity that Loyd and Neal Grossman bring to their work: they’d probably be offended if anyone dared take them seriously. The Massachusetts duo turns terminal Anglophilia into an asset: Loyd sings like a charmingly inebriated Ray Davies,…
Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, LA’s 20/20 started out cute and unthreatening, their lush vocal harmonies announcing their love for the Beatles, Byrds and Beach Boys. That’s not to say that Steve Allen and his cohorts aren’t interesting in their own right: on their self-titled debut, producer Earle Mankey helps the band convert their influences into…
Like the Georgia Satellites, North Carolina’s Woods are terminal fans of early Rod Stewart. (In fact, Satellite singer Dan Baird — who guest guitars on one cut here — tarried with the then-Woodpeckers before hitting platinum.) Alas, these guys seem to be running on low-octane gas, only occasionally (“Battleship Chains”) summoning up the abandon required…
New Zealand’s Split Enz began their recording career in pleasantly uncommercial fashion, writing gently eccentric tunes that echoed the softer side of Foxtrot-era Genesis. A compilation of demos, Mushroom’s The Beginning of the Enz chronicles those earliest days and finds Tim Finn’s bittersweet singing style starting to work its magic. For Mental Notes — their…
As lead singer of Texas’ infamous 13th Floor Elevators — one of rock’s earliest, strangest and greatest psychedelic bands — Roky Erickson explored the far reaches of musical and personal extremes. The Elevators’ first two albums (Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Easter Everywhere, released, respectively, in 1966 and ’67) are essential classics…
Appearing on the London punk scene shortly after the Sex Pistols, Generation X was an extraordinary but ill-fated outfit that issued five tremendous singles, one classic album and some real dross. It also launched the mega-career of Billy Idol and the ditzy Sigue Sigue Sputnik, developments one must weigh when considering the band’s historical significance.…
