Sector 27 - Sector 27
#443
November 11 1980
Sector 27 (Tom Robinson)
Sector 27
Genre: New Wave
4 out of 5
Highlights:
Invitation: What Have We Got to Lose
Not Ready
Can’t Keep Away
Few albums have sounded like crossing the transom from 70s punk to 80s experimentation than this one. I readily admit that Tom Robinson is someone I have no experience with but I do have deep memories of reading about/following/listening to works by Steve Lillywhite, the wunderkind who is partially responsible for the framework of that entire decade. And he produces this album. Boy, is it something. I am reminded of Peter Gabriel throughout but not in that cold, paternal, distancing way. Instead, I feel more engulfed in the passion that Tom and the rest are bringing to the fray. It’s like if David Bowie was a band and not…David Bowie.
Weirdly, and flying in the face of my theory, is that, most of the album is co-written by Robinson and Jo Burt and those songs don’t hold up as strongly as the solo Robinson joints.
Personal favorite is the B-52s/XTC hybrid “”Can’t Keep Away”. But I also appreciate the Mod-Revival of “Total Recall”, although I don’t think it plays to Lillywhite’s strengths.
Ugly album cover. Pretty terrific little spinner.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGjCzjANmig&list=PLlvn8uktX5LvJYRAyTHmOrNBKYATktkxH
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