The 1981 Listening Post - Laid Back - Laid Back

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Laid Back Laid Back Genre: Zonnige Elektro-Pop Rating: 3.6 out of 5 Highlights: I Wanna Go Back Take Me Home Walk On (2019 Re-issue Bonus Track) IF YOU WANT TO RIDE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. IF YOU WANT TO RIDE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. WHITE HORSE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. WHITE HORSE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. NO, NO, NO. That cornerstone song of Late 20th Western Civilization is not on this album. In fact, it's an outlier in the Laid Back oeuvre. They had that crazy huge hit and said, hey you know that's cool and all but we're still gonna do our chill Euro-beach thing. Vaguely tropical, unmistakably Euro, easy-going synthpop that conjures up visions of Valérie Kaprisky cavorting on the French Riviera circa 1983. I think Serge would've approved while also admitting with a shrug that it's une bouffée de néant. There's an infectious, glistening sheen here, like an all-night party with a bunch of fun-loving Netherlanders in Biarritz. Not as arch as Trio but just as dumb, Laid Back would hold their own on a double-bill with Yello. Highlights: I Wanna Go Back sounds like Badfinger became a synthpop band. Take Me Home is super fun. The Belle Stars meet Right Said Fred, interpolated by EBN-OZN. Walk On has that smoooooooooth Style Council feel. (Ed. Note: 2019 Re-issu Bonus Track) Still ... IF YOU WANT TO RIDE, RIDE THE WHITE PONY. RIDE, RIDE THE WHITE PONY. WHITE PONY. WHITE PONY. How do you compete with that? They've been going strong for forty years, God bless them.