The best band from Minneapolis you've probably never heard of. Let's set the time frame to 1975-85 and revisit some of the names you'll know that hailed from the Twin Cities area: The Replacements; Husker Dü; Soul Asylum; on a smaller scale, Information Society; and, oh yeah, Prince and The Time. I didn't hear of The Suburbs in small-town Tennessee until they were signed to a major label in 1984 and the promo vinyl arrived at the shop.
Hey, it's 30 years ago, don't bitch about the video quality...it's the energy of the music that sparkles. Still have two of their CDs in my Featured 500 display in the office. So take that new wave/dance pop, horn-fueled, off-beat lyrical collection and wizen it up three decades and you have "Si Sauvage."
No, I have no clue what it means, unless it means "brilliant!" Thank goodness for these Kickstarter, PledgeMusic, fan-driven funding projects. I certainly hope this isn't a one-off project because it's one of the best albums of the year, by far. I'll give it a 9 of 10 score, only demerit because it's short (37 minutes) and contains one less-than-excellent track.
Three original members, including lead vocalist/keyboardist Chan Poling (who I noted sounded like Doc Neeson from The Angels on one track, Chris Thompson wrapped in the Manfred Mann Earth Band days on another, and even The Boss on one more) and guitarist/vocalist Beej Chaney. The bands that immediately popped into mind as I played the record included Madness, Huey Lewis & The News and The Flaming Lips! This is not an easy album to find and it's a damn shame because it could appeal to the college radio demo, not just us old farts. The MP3 on Amazon is $9 and if you give it three spins I'll guarantee you'll be satisfied with your investment.
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The incredible mathematicians among you have discerned that the next album has a 29-year(!) span between records.
Early in my junior year and squarely in the explosive development of my Mad Rocker persona, punk music was everywhere and I JUST HATED IT. One fateful day, and probably with a major buzz-on, I heard this breath of fresh...
My pre-teen, science-fiction-loving self bought the original 45 (still have it somewhere) and the stoned, twenty-year-old me was blown away. The scene was dubbed New Romantic, a very fashion-oriented movement which considered David Bowie and Roxy Music to be gods. Visage was essentially the brainchild of a couple of club owners with clout, hiring some talented musicians from other bands (became a Midge Ure/Ultravox fan because of this...never got into Magazine, though). It pioneered the New Wave movement of the 80's for me, which resulted in some of my favorite music of that decade.
Visage was short-lived, just three albums. Front man, fashionista (and heroin addict) Steve Strange turned out to be too much of a freak to work with and the hired guns folded back into their previous bands. Beats the hell out of me how/why this new record developed, but I admit to being surprised at how viable it actually is in 2013. You heard snippets of several tracks in the above video. It's not just keys and electronics, there's some appropriate guitar placement and the addition of the female vocalist is a major plus. Strange was never a good singer on his own but he wrote some catchy tunes. This one has embedded itself in my brain...
Those live pieces are culled from a show in London a few months back and the old queen was having to read the lyrics to some of his songs. The ravages of drug abuse... I also wondered if he might have been lip-synching and after watching the above video and how perfectly the studio audio track synched up with the live edit, I may be right.
This is certainly better than the last OMD album and if you were ever into The Human League, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, etc., you'll love this record.
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