Tuxedomoon - Desire
#44
January 1981
By Scott Von Doviak
Tuxedomoon
Desire
Genre: No Wave/Avant Garde
Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Scott’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Highlights:
East/Jinx
Incubus (Blue Suit)
I was unfamiliar with Tuxedomoon before this Listening Post assignment, and I’m not sure why. Certainly they wouldn’t have gotten any mainstream radio airplay back in my formative years, but by college in the late ‘80s, when I was seeking out more adventurous stuff, it seems they would have popped up on my radar. Never happened, but if it had I figure I would have given this one listen and decided it was not for me.
Don’t get me wrong, this is adventurous, singular stuff, at times calling to mind the Residents, Tom Waits, and the Doors, but while I enjoy demented carnival music as much as the next guy, Desire gets a bit too dissonant for my liking at times. The opening epic “East/Jinx” weighs in at nearly 15 minutes and runs through several phases: an opening instrumental section that wouldn’t be out of place on the Fire Walk with Me soundtrack, a Gypsy caravan interlude, and finally an electronic freakout that sounds like a malfunctioning modem from the late 90s. I rather enjoyed it up until that last part, but the mix of styles sets the tone for what follows.
“Victims of the Dance” sounds like a later Doors track where the Lizard King spouts his poetry while Ray Manzarek noodles on the keyboards. “Incubus (Blue Suit)” is downright poppy and danceable, in a “Goth night at the club” sort of way. The title track is repetitive, “Again” suggests a drunken Phantom of the Opera, “In the Name of Talent” is noisy skronk I’d really have to be in the mood for, and “Holiday for Plywood” is like a jaunty score from a ‘40s melodrama that slowly descends into hell. Tuxedomoon definitely weren’t following trends and I appreciate the oddball risk-taking, but I don’t see myself listening to Desire very often.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ZoSobrMgDcDkICS0G6f95?si=ESEOIW_PTEyw6wwwVIaCPA
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