Saturday, December 9, 2023

The 1980 Listening Post - The Scene - The Scene

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1980 The Scene The Scene Genre: Romantics B-Sides Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: The Show Young Dogs, Young Blood Words, Pistols Dutch band--some sources say a collective--who stuck it out on the fringes of the European Indie scene and eventually found success in Belgium. A spare sound--angular guitar, bass, drums, vocals--evokes Duty Now for the Future, early Police filler, and almostsortof The Vapors. I wish this was produced and engineered more. There's a sameness and thuddiness that gets wearying after a while. Or maybe it's the lead singer's limited vocal range. It's too bad, because there are some good songs here. Overall: Better than expected. Worth a listen. A few of these could be lovely additions to a Euro post-punk compilation. Opening track is an outlier, probably the best song, and has been sticking with me. "Some believe in rock stars. They go to Bowie's favorite bar. They wait for hours 'til he shows up." Shifting perspectives from multiple sides. Feels autobiographical.

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