Poly Styrene - Translucence
#240
June 15 1981
Poly Styrene
Translucence
Genre: Post-Rock
4 out of 5
Highlights:
Dreaming
Skydive
If I was more intrepid (or interested) I might research the story of Poly Styrene. This wildly eclectic alternative/post-rock/new wave record came after the excellent X-Ray Specs Germfree Adolescents and I had wondered what happened to them after that record, no knowledge of this one.
This is it for her. She doesn’t appear on acetate for another 20 years, I guess and then she died in 2011. But her name is synonymous with punk and it should be.
Just as, if you were expecting Germfree Post-Adolescents you would be surprised and, I imagine, a bit disappointed. This is a light and bouncy affair. At times sounding like it belongs on a Jonathan Demme circa-Something Wild soundtrack.
Songs like “Skydive” and “Essence” feel more like they were riffed into existence by Poly, while “Day That Time Forgot” comes across like a late 60s lost classic.
Much of this album either sounds like smooth jazz by a punk or the beginnings of Everything But the Girl. But better than both.
This entire record is a gentle and sweet 180 from her previous record. And that has a nice symmetry since Poly was diagnosed as bi-polar about 10 years after this record came out. Makes sense that she would put two records like this.
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