Gang Of Four: Songs Of The Free (Warner Brothers/1982)

Leeds' Gang Of Four released 1982's Songs Of The Free, their third album, on the heels of the excellent Another Day/Another Dollar EP. It is their first release with Sara Lee on bass, who took over after Dave Allen left the band to for Shriekback with Barry Andrews of XTC. She's a excellent replacement and is adept to playing nearly as deeply-funky as Allen did.

The album is successful in marrying the band's slashing post-punk to the funky new wave that was all-prevalent at the time. It was produced by Mike Howlett of Gong (who also produced OMD, Tears For Fears and A Flock Of Seagulls). Songs Of The Free is really only weak when one holds it up against Entertainment!, Yellow and Solid Gold. All of which are on the perfect side. Songs Of The Free is jam packed with moody, nocturnal grooves and somnambulist funk. Songs like “History Of The World”, “Life! It's A Shame” and “I Will Be A Good Boy” are my idea of perfect background music that I'd love to hear in a bar or pub. “Muscle For Brains” has a great funky guitar line. “Call Me Up”, “We Live As We Dream, Alone” and “I Love A Man In A Uniform” are easily the most effective songs on the album.

“I Love A Man In A Uniform” was a new-wave dance hit peaking at #27 on Billboard's Club Play Singles chart and became a staple of Alternative radio. The album itself is usually held up as Gang Of Fours last initial creative hurrah. Although it produced a handful of decent tracks, 1983's Hard was indeed a fairly soft affair. I've always considered Songs Of The Free part of a logical conclusion to the trilogy of Entertainment! and Solid Gold.

Recommended. Indeed.  

Off! : Live At Generation Records (Vice Records/2011)

Off! Is something of Los Angeles hardcore punk rock supergroup. Formed by Keith Morris of Black Flag and Circle Jerks and Steve McDonald of Redd Kross, Mario Rubalcaba of Rocket From The Crypt and Dimitri Coats from Burning Brides in 2009. The band quickly recorded and released The First Four Eps 7” box set in 2010 on Vice (Magazine) Records. The band is amazingly effective and and direct and have a refreshingly raw sound. Considering the bands' ages, they could come across really ineffective. Thankfully, that's not the case.

On October 22 in 2010 the band played a free show at Generation Records in New York. I attended the show and it was pretty awesome. Vice Records recorded the show and released the four-song Live At Generation Records 7”the following year on Record Store Day 2011. It's a well-performed, well-recorded affair. And it only hints at the loud greatness that was the show. The band sonically resemble early Black Flag, which shouldn't suprise anyone considering Morris was Black Flag's first ever vocalist.

Highly recommended for the punk rock set.

Here's the video review:

Fear: The Record (Kicked In The Throat/2004)

Fear were part of the original Los Angeles, California's punk scene in the late 1970's. Part sincerity and part tongue-in-cheek, Fear were what you'd call “humorously offensive”. With cartoonishly homophobic, misogynistic and misanthropic lyrics, they were what one might describe as being an acquired taste. I remember Trouser Press Record Guide liking singer Lee Ving's vocals to a drunken baseball fan bellowing from the bleachers. Fear had their most widespread exposure in 1981. First in the Penelope Spheeris' classic The Decline Of Western Civilization motion picture and on the Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live in which, as per mega-fan John Belushi, the band played a mini-set (which is worthy of an episode itself).

Nonetheless Fear's debut album The Record is easily something of a classic and one of the best-recorded debut albums from the entire LA late '70's punk scene. The playing is technically very skillful and well-above average in terms of your standard up-start punk band. “Camarillo” has a difficult time signature, “Getting The Brush” is darkly imaginative and “New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones” is kind of hilarious. “I Don't Care About You”, “Let's Have A War” and a re-recording of the 1978 single “I Love Livin' In The City” are bonafide punk anthems in the classic-sense.

Initially released in 1982 on Slash records, this issue is the 2004 Kicked In The Throat release and features their 1982 Holiday single “Fuck Christmas” as a bonus track.

Highly recommended for any and all fans of punk rock. 

Here's the video review:

The Clash: Black Market Clash EP (Epic/1980)

The Clash have been dubbed "The Only Band That Matters". Coming from the original UK punk scene, The Clash were an important band, both genuinely and superficially. I often wonder what a modern audience would make of the Clash now. They were as impassioned as they were insufferable and they cared as much about "the message" as they did their well-groomed image. They have always been one of my favorite bands, but I've always been able see both sides of them. Their documentary Westway To The World was as riveting as it was revisionist (the band curiously failed to even mention the last three years of its' history). The band released twenty singles and six albums in only eight years time.

Black Market Clash was a 10" EP released as part of Epic's Nu Disk series. Nu Disk was a brief series of 10" EP's released in 1980 (other notable acts to be part of the series are Cheap Trick and Gary Glitter). It's a collections of singles, B-sides, dubs and outtakes. "Capital Radio" and "Bankrobber" were both single A-Sides (the latter in an extended dub-form), "Cheat" is from the UK version of their self-titled debut album, "Time is Tight" is a cover of a Booker T & The MGs song and the remaining tracks were UK-only B-Sides.

 Black Market Clash was released right before the triple-album Sandinista!. All of these tracks were assembled on CD as Super Black Market Clash in the mid 90's.I personally like 10" vinyl records so I'll go out on a limb and say, sure, why not, buy it. It's a nice little fill-the-gaps release.

Here's The Video Review:

Bad Religion: No Control (Epitaph Records/1989)

Bad Religion is one of the longest-running bands from the original late 70's Los Angeles, California punk scene. Their fourth album, released in late 1989 on Epitaph Records (which was formed by Bad Religion guitarist  Brett Gurewitz) - No Control is arguably the band's greatest album. It one-ups their previous album (Suffer) ever-so slightly in terms of top-notch material and a brighter overall sound. Granted there's a certain samey-ness to the materiel (arrangement-wise) however this doesn't seem to detract from the overall impact of the album as a whole. 

 

Greg Graffin's sociopolitical and sociological concerns suit the materiel perfectly and the harmony vocal arrangements are extremely tight (as is the band itself). Greg Hetson and Brett Gurewitz's dual guitars are equally matched by the rhythm section of Jay Bently and Pete Finestone. The highlights include “I Want To Conquer The World”, “Automatic Man”, “Change Of Ideas”, “Sanity” and the title track.

If you're new to Bad Religion, this is about as good a starting point as any. Also recommended are Suffer, Recipe For Hate and Against The Grain.

Here's the video review:

Special Thanks: Amy Riley-McClelland.

Adam And The Ants: Dirk Wears White Sox (Do It Records/1979) (Epic Records/1983)

New Wave icon Adam Ant had numerous UK hit singles in the early 1980's with his band the Ants. Among them “Ant Music”, “Stand & Deliver” and “Prince Charming”. However the band initially had a significantly different sound. Based in all things S&M, the original punk/post-punk Ants were somewhat less colorful-sounding than the hit-laden Ants were.

The lone album this era of Adam And The Ants was Dirk Wears White Sox. Released in October of 1979 the album contained plenty of early Ant favorites such as “Car Trouble” (which would later be re-recorded and released as a single peaking at #33), “Cleopatra” and “Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)”. The music is a fairly unique blend of post-punk. The album is comparable to XTC's Go 2, Gang Of Four's Entertainment, Magazine's Real Life and Siouxie & The Banshees' The Scream. Plenty of angular, atonal guitars and interesting rhythms ornamented with stark lyrical themes.

The album was finally issued in the US in 1983, after the success of “Goody Two Shoes”. The album contained different cover art (a still taken from the “Zerox” music video, a still was also used for the single-sleeve of “Cartrouble”). “Day I Met God” & Catholic Day” were dropped in favor of the singles of “Zerox” and Car Trouble” (and their B-Sides “Whip In My Valise” & “Kick”, respectively) .

It is this line-up of Adam Ant on vocals, Andre Warren on bass, Dave Barbarossa on drums and percussion, Matthew Ashman on guitar that band manager Malcolm Mclaren poached from Adam to subsequently form Bow Bow Wow.

Both versions of the album are worth hearing and dare I say the American Version is more crowd-pleasing of the two. But there is an integrity to original UK version that is possibly unmatched by the US version, as it was Adam's original version of the album in the first place.

Very Most Highly Recommended for fans of post-punk, punk and new wave.

Here's the video review:

Photography: Janet Beckman