The 1980 Listening Post - L.A. Burgers - L.A. Burgers

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1980 L.A. Burgers L.A. Burgers Genre: New Wave / Power Pop Rating: 3 out of 5 Hello Goodbye Color Eyes You Call Computer Breakdown The cover of Hollywood’s L.A. Burgers’ sole album features a supremely unappetizing, discolored image of patties on a grill. Coupled with their name, they set the expectations bar low for an album that exceeds those expectations, while falling short if its potential. “L.A. Burgers” starts on a deceptively Beatles-esque note. First there’s opener “Hello Goodbye”, which is not a cover, but a catchy, driving slab of new wave with jangly guitars and plenty of harmonizing on the chorus. Following that, “Color Eyes” kicks off with a decidedly raga rock verse, built off a sustained droning bassline, a melody that hints at “Within You Without You”, and an electric guitar noodling quietly above it all. But before George and the Maharishi could get their copyright lawyer on the horn, the verse resolves into a chorus that sounds closer to The Cars. It’s hard to pin the sound of the band down. They are harder and faster than pop, but more whimsical than power pop or punk. They are light enough on effects pedals that they don’t quite fit the new wave label, save for a few occasions like the closer “Computer Breakdown.” The Burgers have moments of 60s psychedelia, such as “Look Smug (Kool Guns)” with its whiff of Love. [1] Then there’s the discordant churn of “Roll On” that reminds me of The Soft Boys. They even hit notes of 70s AOR, such as the lead guitars that interrupt the otherwise power pop chug of “Never Say Never.” So they manage to sound perfectly of their time without fitting neatly in any one of the era’s boxes. Bottom line, L.A. Burgers are clever, creative songwriters, with enough unpredictably catchy tunes on the album to warrant some notoriety. But the recording is lacking and the vocals are worse. To be fair, this copy is almost certainly recorded off of vinyl, likely degrading the quality a bit. Whatever the original, the resulting mp3s sound thin. Meanwhile the vocals would have certainly been improved by a good producer, but the band should have also recruited a singer. The voices would have been serviceable live, but are unpolished, thick, nasal, and the backing vocals especially are quite hammy. The Burgers also frequently sing with a bit of British accent such that I assumed they were from the other side of the Atlantic on first listen. This should have been the demo tape but instead its been immortalized in vinyl. Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s a shame that L.A. Burgers didn’t find the right elements to bring their songs to a wider audience. Instead they continue in the same vein as their name and album cover; there’s good things inside but the presentation is lacking. 1. The sole article I read about them, circa 1981, is a review of a live show in which they played not one but two Tommy James and the Shondells covers. http://www.tvparty.com/homeroom1/6-11-81.html