The 1980 Listening Post - Dave McArtney and the The Pink Flamingos - Dave McArtney and the The Pink Flamingos

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1980 Dave McArtney and the The Pink Flamingos Dave McArtney & The Pink Flamingos Genre: NZ Pop Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: Virginia Hungry Night Lonesome Old Star Another repeat review for me! One of my 1982 discoveries was Dave McArtney’s Pink Flamingos, whose delicious New Zealand pop caught my ear in a big way. Once again, I’m doing things backwards, listening to an earlier record by the same band. Let’s do this! Hungry Night rolls in on some Beatlesque chords. Yes, his name is McArtney and he’s heavily influenced by the other guy with the similar name. But really, a better touch point would be someone like Split Enz, fellow Kiwi rockers, also Fab Fourish in their own lovable way. This is a nice opener. It doesn’t rise up and fly on its own, but it sets the table for whatever’s coming next. There must have been a law passed in 1979 that every new wave / power pop album had to have at least one song with a reggae-influenced bass line. Call it the Sting Stipulation. This one, Infatuation, isn’t bad, particularly because it leaves the mode with some straight ahead rock thumping and features a piano laden bridge that moves things along. Unfortunately all Dave could come up with for the chorus lyrics was repeating the title over and over again. I guess that’s the downside of the Sting Stipulation? In My Chevrolet feels a bit off, and not in an intentional way. It’s a sort of Graham Parker or Joe Jackson tune, with a chiming, Steve Nieve-ish organ, but it doesn’t hold together somehow, almost as if the band hadn’t quite nailed the song yet when it was recorded. Next is the band anthem, Pink Flamingo. Poppy new wave with some pub rock drumming, a wordless section of the chorus, and the refrain, “Getchyer getchyer getchyer getchyer feathers away from my nose.” It errs a bit on the side of novelty track, which makes it slight and disposable. The Party is almost six minutes and lopes along at a comfortable pace. “Party roll over me,” Dave sings, and then a sax solo slides in. “Party roll over me,” everyone repeats again for awhile. It’s a wonder there are any guests left at this point. I can see most people yawning, reaching for their coats… Side two kicks off with more of what we’re here for: Virginia is melodic, upbeat pop with angular guitars, big harmonies on the chorus, fun piano breaks, and a candy sweet bridge leading into the kiss off last verse. It’s a classic love/hate song, and it fades out before it hits 2:30. Nicely done. Have I mentioned Ray Davies yet in this review? Track seven is called Sometimes, and it’s the clearest example here of the heavy Kinks influence on this band. The song structure isn’t quite tight enough to successfully emulate ’60’s Kinks, so imagine more Low Budget / Celluloid Heroes era. I mean, this still isn’t that, but it’s trying to get there, and the effort is listenable, even enjoyable at times. Beat Goes On has those fake Chinese sounding chords and a nice little guitar solo, but it suffers from that repetition thing again. I mean, I get it. “The beat goes on and on / On and on and on and on” only makes sense as a lyric if you sing it 18 times. But I don’t have to listen to it. I’m Outside has a lovely piano backbeat that provides the right framework for Dave’s joyful assertion: “I’m outside / Follow me.” A Supertrampish sax solo moves things along in a jolly direction, but the song lasts about a minute longer than it has any right to. Still, no complaints. I like a good walk myself. Hey, here’s this album’s Squeeze song! I mean, that’s what Lonesome Old Star sounds like to me, right down to the octave vocals, major/minor shifts and bouncy guitar figure. If you’re going to write an insert-band-name by numbers song, Squeeze is probably one of the best choices you could make. And really, the song has enough inner propulsion to stand on its own merits, especially as the closing track of the Pink Flamingos’ first LP. So what’s the verdict? Clearly, the other record is stronger, but the seeds are planted here, and there are at least three keepers that probably would’ve made a Pink Flamingos Greatest Hits album if such a thing had come to be. Thanks for the unexpected treat, Listening Post. I wasn’t expecting it.