The 1981 Listening Post - The Knobz - Sudden Exposure

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 The Knobz Sudden Exposure Genre: New Wave / Power Pop Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Culture Gettin' Outa Here The Knobz were a Dunedin band supposedly described by one contemporary article as "XTC meets The Knack." [1] I’d say they are in the neighborhood of countrymates Split Enz, even if they don’t sound like them – “new wave” and “catchy” but there’s not a lot of there there. Judge for yourself. The Knobz made their greatest dent with “Culture,” a snotty, power-poppy screed aimed at New Zealand’s then-PM, the Right Honourable Sir Robert Muldoon. It was the first self-funded single to pierce New Zealand’s top five. The song is catchy enough, but they almost certainly benefited from their high profile call outs. Their video [2] begins with a filmed confrontation with Muldoon over the impact felt by local artists from New Zealand’s sales tax. The song continues the thread, with audio clips of Muldoon (or an impersonator) interjected humorously throughout. But their refrain, “I’d like to see you do my job,” is a bit ironic when you consider the naivety of lines like “Nobody gives a toss (pot) about the inflation rate, and nobody’s buying records Rob, it’s your sales tax we all hate.” [3] The album is generally a mixed bag. At their best, they churn out marginally catchy rock songs wrapped in a ragged punky sound, often accompanied by prominent synths adding a dash of new wave. Penultimate track “Gettin’ Outta Here”, the other highlight in spite of a corny keyboard lead, follows in this vein. But about half the album borrows heavily from reggae and ska, from “Coastal Hostesses” with its vaguely “London Calling”-esque stomp, to the spacey ska of “For What It’s Worth”, to the embarrassing faux Jamaican patois of “Closer Tonight” (“all the rude boys on di dance floor,” etc.). Arguably worse than their blaccent are their more blatant attempts at humor, such as the awful, robotic “Cyborg Sally” and faux Russian (Russcent?) on “K.G.B.” “Sudden Exposure” is not bad for a first album by a young unsigned band. There’s enough here to see hope for improvement, although it’s hard to see them as leading to something big. They broke up after this, so we will never know whether they were capable of more. ********** 1. Oft quoted but never cited. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knobz 2. The video is a mixture of post-punk “Hard Days Night” fun with cameras, and stock early 80s “band playing in the studio in front of a white backdrop.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8frPD7DgqI 3. Yeah, I’m more of a Labour guy myself, but I’d like to see them fill “Rob’s” shoes. I hope they at least made enough in royalties to afford an Econ 101 class.