Friday, March 11, 2022

The 1981 Listening Post - Godley & Creme - Ismism

 Godley & Creme - Ismism



#478

October 19 1981

Godley & Creme

Ismism

Genre: New Wave/Pop Rock

3 out of 5




Highlights:

Snack Attack




Opening your album with what could be thought of as a novelty track is bold, man. “Snack Attack” has more in common with “No Anchovies, Please” by J. Geils, but it’s actually a better track than that. It’s what I expected from Ian Dury when people tell me that he’s funny. 

Godley and Creme are funny. “Snack Attack” is funny. It’s just a repeated rhythm and a terrific set of rhymes that name drop Kojack, Big Macs and Kerouac. It’s catchy as hell and I didn’t wanna move on from it. Give me the 10” extended single of that one, guys. 

I’m in. What else do you have for me?

Jittery drum machines on “Under Your Thumb”. Ok. I like. This sounds like a couple guys in the studio with more talent and mastery than Barnes & Barnes but, in a way, spiritual cousins. This record feels like an experiment. For instance, “Joey’s Camel”…that’s G&C playing around in the studio and then I wonder…did that influence The Police? Because it sounds eerily reminiscent of stuff they would put out on Synchronicity a couple years later. 

It all gets pretty repetitive, which isn’t surprising since they are just playing with rhythms and hues until the song “Sale of the Century”, which is an interpolation of “The Great Pretender” and I would be surprised if this escaped a lawsuit. 

This is a “I’m glad I heard it, not sure I really need to ever again” record. 


https://music.apple.com/us/album/ismism/1442673416

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