Thompson Twins - A Product of...(Participation)
#246
June 1981
Thompson Twins
A Product of…(Participation)
Genre: Not what you expect from this group.
3.5 out of 5
Highlights:
When I See You
The Perfect Game
How much does that opening track sound like Geldof and the Boomtwon Rats? Just with a lot more skittish XTC-ism thrown in.
This entire record sounds NOTHING like the people who gave us “Hold Me Now”.
I even like the next song, “Politics”. It’s about nothing but a lot of post-rock dance rock was about nothing. And it’s herky-jerky enough for me and then it’s followed by that white African-appropriation that had just happened a year before and that one is sort of catchy as well.
Hrm…Why do people give this record such a hard time.
I’ll keep on listening…
This is a very energetic that follows the tributary that Adam And and Malcolm McLaren and, yes, even XTC started in the end of the 70s and the early 80s. It’s often ugly but never unlistenable.
But, it’s also missing something. The songs seem rushed, like they know they are made of paper and it’s raining and if they don’t get them out they will just disintegrate.
It’s on Side Two’s “The Price” that it makes sense: They want to be XTC but also The Police and also U2 and also Talking Heads. These kids are wearing their influences on their sleeves but it all comes across like imitation and not inspiration.
Props for anticipating the big African invasion, though. "Oumma Aularesso (Animal Laugh)" could have been included on Paul Simon’s Graceland and I would not have minded in the least.
The future of Thompson Twins can be found just before the end. “The Perfect Game” has that TT sweet spot. Mid tempo, heavy, steady percussion, thick and resonant bass. It’s just missing….something….Where’s Alanna…?
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E3QNIsbHkk&list=PLlvn8uktX5LtZUQvRrepXQsow8qjdQybZ (Missing 1 track - Vendredi Saint)
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