The Romantics - Strictly Personal
#550
By Chris Roberts
October 1981
The Romantics
Strictly Personal
Genre: Power Pop, or as we call it in California, Power Soda.
Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Chris’ Rating: 2.75 of 5
Highlights:
Why’d You Leave Me
I grew up in L.A., but during Summer vacations in the early 80s, my parents would stick me on a plane and send me to my grandparents in Minneapolis. Sometimes I’d go to the Minnesota State Fair with my cousins. We ate donuts and corn dogs while watching lazy muskies at the bottom of a manmade pool. When we could go alone, we saw live music and heard more while sweating in line for the Tilt-O-Whirl or the Scrambler. Cousin Andy liked Journey but was scared of harder stuff like the Scorpions. Cousin Dale, a little older than us, liked Devo and Rush, but was more interested in chasing after sunburnt girls with perms.
I’ve never heard this album before, but The Romantics Strictly Personal reminds me of all this. This is rock best heard while eating fried foods and staring at game fish in the hot sun. It’s spinning and trying not to barf. It’s music that neither Andy nor Dale would object to. It’s got a little edge, a little growl, but don’t worry… the Romantics have short hair and ties.
But outside of a trip down memory lane, I don’t have much use for Strictly Personal. Perhaps it’s the coastal elite in me, but the band sounds like a zero-proof, zero calories version of The Replacements, at best. Really, it’s The Romantics at their worst. The guitar has muscle, but the rest is a rock template left on autopilot. Little connects. “Bop” is the “less words” version of “C’mon Girl (Work It Out With Me).” “No One Like You” and “Can’t Get Over You” sound like royalty free songs they found by searching “rock” on Google. Worse, the lyrics for “Look at Her” and “She’s Hot” were pulled from a Playboy For Kids sticker sheet. “Why’d You Leave Me,” a more Nuggety version of The Smithereens “Blood and Roses,” was the only song that really stood out after a couple listens.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0AJFYKb6SgBEBaHmoAft6S?si=GP-Vy0weSDyWNA-NKvaS4g
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