The 1980 Listening Post - Bram Tchaikovsky - Pressure

 Bram Tchaikovsky - Pressure

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST ADMIN DISCOVERY

Bram Tchaikovsky

Pressure (AKA The Russians Are Coming)

Genre: Power Pop/Rock

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Let’s Dance

Heartache

Pressure

Mr. President

I’ve said it before but for anyone new: Bram’s was the name you saw in every New Wave magazine but never heard. The sheer pretentiousness of the name was enough to either make you decide you had to investigate further or eschew him completely.

I chose the latter.

The beefiness of this record was unexpected. Think Graham Parker but with a heavier rhythm section and a lot of cojones. “Heartache” is the song Rivers Cuomo has been trying to write for decades. Bram was there first and no one can convince me that Rivers doesn’t own every one of his records.

There’s a lot to process one this record but, sadly, everything disappears into nothingness and then, before you know it, you are on to the next tune. But I loved the psychosis of “Mr. President” and “New York Paranoia”. I think all the songs need better production and a lot less studio drug taking. But, it’s a neat little record. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPFa4xnnNik