The 1981 Listening Post - Dirty Looks - Turn It Up

 Dirty Looks - Turn It Up

#583

1981 Housekeeping

Dirty Looks 

Turn It Up

Genre: Clones of the Knack

2.75 out of 5

From the first track I am immediately reminded of another band that made a stellar record and then spent the next one trying to hard to continue that sound while pushing an envelope no one asked them to: The Knack. 

I get a pulsating sense of ….but the Little Girls Understand from Turn It Up. 

I’m sort of stunned at how much “Carrie” sounds like a Weezer song but I shouldn’t really be surprised. Weezer’s DNA seems to be coursing through with Feigerisms. 

Sadly, while the songs are certainly o-kay, this is not nearly as good as their debut and it’s all pretty repetitive. 

It really feels like the lesser of all The Knack output. 

Missed:? Not really.

It’s on the second half of this:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dirty-looks-turn-it-up/1370329524

The 1980 Listening Post - Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks

Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks

#78

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Dirty Looks

Dirty Looks

Genre: We all listened to Get the Knack!

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

They Got Me Covered

Lie to Me

Let Go

12 O’Clock High

Drop That Tan

I had no idea just how influential “My Sharona” was. I would add that Elvis and Joe and Romantics had a hand in pushing this sound to budding musicians/artists. But, really, Power Pop like this and Fingerprintz didn’t really hit the mainstream and maybe the mainstream rejected it on it’s own. After all, Sharona was perfect, why do we need any more, I guess?

Thing is, this is exactly my kind of jam. That 1979 sound or skinny tie bands pounding out 3 minute gems. I miss it a lot. 

If you have a playlist of stellar Power Pop that includes the likes of The Records and 20/20, you really should add “Let Go” to that list. Screw it. Add most of this record and Fingerprintz as well. (And then get a song from 2015 ago by Barreracudas called “Promises”, a neat toss back. And, really, anything by Biters. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dirty-looks-turn-it-up/1370329524

The 1985 Listening Post - Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks

Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks

#104

1985 Housekeeping

Dirty Looks

Dirty Looks

Genre: Hair Metal

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Take Your Time

Was this recorded in a banquet hall? The acoustics are awful. Like a lot of these bands, they seem to be influenced by Kiss more than anything else. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Except mid-80s Kiss wasn’t very good and everyone was moving on from that sound. 

And we really only need one Kiss, right? 

This one is an independent release so I forgive them a lot. 

But, boy does “Wild Child” sound like Spinal Tap. In fact, a lot of this does. 

So, there we go. Dirty Looks is the intersection point on the Venn Diagram that is Kiss/Spinal Tap.

Also, the band has had, like, 50 members over the years. Here’s a list:

• Henrik Ostergaard – Vocals and guitars (deceased)^[5](1984–1996; 2006–2011)
• Paul Anthony Stage – bass guitar (1984)
• Paul Anthony "Buck" Dulle – drums (1984–1985)^[6]
• Scot T. Garcia – guitar – (1984)
• Jimmy Chartley – bass guitar (1984–1985)
• Boyd Baker – (1985–1986)
• Steve McConnell – drums (1985–1986; 1993–1996; 2007)
• John Pelinski – bass guitar (1985–1986)
• Jack Pyers – bass guitar (1986–1990; 1991; 2007–200
• A.D. Adams – drums (1986–1987)
• Chris Bensch – guitar (1987)
• Gene Barnett – drums (1987–1990; 1993)
• Paul Lidel – guitar (1987–1994; 2007)
• Chris Caffery – guitar (1988–1989)
• Dave Naro – bass guitar (1990–1991)
• Cary Devore – drums (1990–1991)
• Brian Perry – bass guitar (1991–1993)
• Ed Collins – drums (1991; 2008)
• J.Michael Davis – drums (1991)
• James Harris – drums (1991–1993)
• Robin Crosby – guitar (deceased) (1993)
• Paul Monroe – drums (1993)
• Keith Barrows – bass guitar (1994–1995)
• Alex Kane – guitar (1994)
• Charlie George – drums (1994–1995)
• John Allen – drums (1994)
• Nicky Kay – guitar (1994)
• Idzi – bass guitar (1994)
• Mike Ondrusek – guitar (1994–1995)
• Mike Smith – guitar (1994–1996)
• Todd Yetter – drums (1994)
• Jassen Wilber – bass guitar (1994–1996)
• Ron Sutton – drums (1994–1996; 2007; 2008)
• Garbiel Scott (Robison) – lead vocals (1996)
• Mike Ohm – guitar (2007)
• Trevor Huster – guitar (2007)
• Doug Welser – drums (2007)
• Jeremy Hummel – drums (2007)
• Eric Brewer – guitar (2008)
• Christopher Shaner – guitar (2008–2009)
• Doug Phillips – bass guitar (2008)
• Scott Parmenter – guitar (2009–2011)
• Greg Pianka – bass guitar (deceased)^[7] (2009–2010)
• Jeff Smith – drums (2009)
• Bill Dailey – drums (2009–2011)