The Suburbs: Credit In Heaven (Twin/Tone Records/1981)

The Suburbs were one of the greatest bands to come from Minneapolis in the 1980's. Originally a jumped-up, noisy new wave quintet, and later evolving into a more moody, danceable outfit. The band's first record in 1978, was also the first ever released on the Twin/Tone label (later home to Soul Asylum and The Replacements) and would serve as the band's label until 1983. In that time they released two albums, two EP's and three singles.

The second of those albums was Credit In Heaven. An ambitious double-album platter, with a nice and varied track selection and clear production via Paul Stark (who would later produce The Replacements' Hootenanny album). The album's lone single “Music For Boys” reached number 66 on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play singles chart. And it became something of a new wave club staple.

While there is a singularly originality to The Suburbs and their material; a few points of references are Roxy Music, Talking Heads and David Bowie. Beej Chaney's vocals point to Iggy Pop, while Chan Polling's voice recalls Bryan Ferry. “Cigarette In Backwards” sounds like a boozy Roxy Music. “Drinking With An Angel” sounds like Iggy Pop fronting Talking Heads. “Idiot Voodoo” and “Dish It Up” sound like absolute new wave dance classics, while “Tape Your Wife To The Ceiling” and “Spring Came” sound like they should be alternative radio classics. Being that it is a double-album there are a few lesser tracks (namely “Macho Drunk”, “Postcard” and “Girlache”). But even those tracks don't detract from the overall cohesiveness and general effectiveness of the album.

The band's playing is tight and the arrangements accentuate the excellently understated rhythm section of bassist Michael Halliday and drummer Hugo Klaers. Lead guitarist the late Bruce C. Allen is shown to be an original player and effective foil to Chaney's spare, quirky parts. And Polling is an a master at knowing what to piano parts to play and what not to play. There is a shared sense of understatement which is common to all.

A highly recommended album.  

Here's the video review:

Special thanks to: Doug Mashkow of New Music Scene and CD Island.

I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume 1 (IRS Records/1981)

I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume One was a sampler of material by artists on I.R.S Records. It was available via an offer that came with copies of I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume 2 & 3. It is quite possible that this album was the Doing Time On Vinyl compilation album that was scheduled, but never released. It was released in a plain white sleeve with a orange sticker indicating the name of album and the slogan “A sampler of tunes you want to hear over and over again”. The copyright date is 1980, but considering it was only released via an offer from an album that came out in 1981, me thinks this didn't actually see the light of day until 1981 as well.

It features great singles from Klark Kent and The Buzzcocks, two tracks from both Oingo Boingo and The Stranglers and a rare single by Berlin with Virginia Macolino on vocals, before Terri Nunn joined the band. It also features Henry Badowski's first appearance on a US LP, Chelsea's fine cover of The Seeds' “No Escape” and Payola$ excellent “China Boys” single.

It's a nice little alternative new/wave compilation album. I've only seen this album two times, tops in the record shops. So, it's a semi-rare release. Recommended.

Here's the video review:

ABP: Something To Believe In (Link Records/1985)

Aberdeen, Scotland's APB was a fairly obscure band until their second single “Shoot You Down” began getting significant airplay on Long Island, NY's WLIR-FM. Their story is the kind of thing that generally speaking, just doesn't happen anymore. The bands' brand of danceable Gang Of Four- inflected funk was hugely popular in dance clubs in the early 1980's, so it's not that big of a shock that they'd appeal to an audience. Only according to the band, it was completely shocked when a major station in the US started playing the bands song, unprompted by anyone, simply because they liked it.

College radio had been generally more open to this sort of thing. Yet major stations with Alternative formats which embraced New Wave were becoming more and more influential. In short, this basically gave APB a career and their largest following was in the New York tri-state area.

The band issued eight singles from 1981 to 1985. They're all compiled on this 1985 compilation album on Link Records Something To Believe In. The tracks are “Shoot You Down” (and its' B-Side “Talk To Me”), “Palace Filled With Love”, “Rainy Day”, “One Day”, “What Kind Of Girl”, “Danceability”, “Summer Love”, “Something To Believe In” and its' B-Side “So Many Broken Hearts”. In my opinion, half of the album is great and holds up well. The other half, less-so.

The album was reissued on Young American Recordings as a double disk set in 2005 with many other unreleased tracks. Recommended if you see it in a used bin for $5 or under.   

Here's the video review:

Special thanks to: WLIR-FM. 

Shadows Of Knight: I Got My Mojo Working (Sundazed Music/1996)

The Shadows Of Knight are one of the definitive American garage rock bands from the mid 60's. Their most successful chart entry was their top-ten cover of “Gloria” by Them. It contained the then-risque lyric “She comes to my room” which the Shadows Of Night replaced with “She Calls Out My Name”, which ensured airplay in all markets. Although, in many major markets the song reached #1. They also made the national top 40 charts with their cover of Bo Didley's “Oh Yeah”.

The always reliable reissue label Sundazed Music issued an alternate version of “I Got My Mojo Working” which was recorded at a 1966 session at Chess Records. It's a lively, raucous recording and a fine addition to their released output. The more interesting side here however is the B-Side. It's a promotional advertisement for Fairmount Potato Chips that was released on a Flexi Disc on Auravision Records in 1967. It is the band introducing themselves and then launching into bluesy proto-punk song about a “Potato Chip”. It's worth the price of record alone.

For fans of Garage Rock. Recommended.  

Here's The Video Review: