The 1980 Listening Post - The Movies - India

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: April 1980 The Movies India Genre: Whatever Works (formerly pub rock) Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Bardot Love is Sacrifice I picked this album for its cover: a dark, garish, hand-painted image of a demon attacking a woman, likely taken from an advert for a Bollywood musical, topped with the band’s name in faux Devanagri script. The image sparked my imagination about what strange, fantastic, or utterly appalling sounds might be contained within. Sadly though, it was all a ruse – the album is about as generic as they come by 1980 standards. Well, you can’t judge a book by its cover. The fourth of the band’s five albums, “India” appears to represent a departure from The Movies’ pub rock roots. Opener “Must Be The Angel” kicks off with a soaring metal riff, giving off some heavy NWOBM vibes, before settling into a ripping hard rock groove. This is followed by “Bardot”, which begins with a hard rock riff before settling into a chugging power pop groove. By the time we get to track three, “See Through Me”, we are fully in pop mode, with some light funk and island flourishes. From here on out we’re looking at basic 80s pop, with touches of hard rock and new wave thrown in. What of the metal? Well, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Fake-outs aside, the first side of the album had me thinking these guys were pretty good at what they were doing, and probably ought to have had a minor hit or two over the years, though at best I can tell they never had a hit. Single “Love is a Sacrifice” is particularly catchy and could have easily charted -- maybe they lacked that little stroke of luck or magic that elevates a track? If someone like the Motels or another radio-friendly act took a stab at it, maybe slowed it down a notch to boot, it could have passed muster. If I have any gripe with this one, it’s the bridge, which is musically pedestrian and a bit lyrically dumb: “I knew she was a loser, but now I am sure That falling in love is like going into war God only knows what I do this for But I will pay the price, love is a sacrifice” Side two though follows along the path they’ve carved thus far, but runs between mediocre and plain bad, and generally should be avoided. Second single “Have Another Body” is modestly catchy but imminently missable, as is the “Golden Years”-like closer “8AM,” and those are the high points. Having not heard The Movies’ earlier work, it’s hard to know where this album fits into their sound, although they are generally categorized as ‘pub rock.’ While I’m hardly knowledgeable about the genre, it’s billed as favoring raw and rootsy rock, and I have always figured it a repository for acts that want to rock and roll but haven’t figured out anything inventive to do with that impulse. If “India” suggests the band is moving away from classic, no frills, AOR-loving rock, it certainly stays true to its roots in terms of artistic ambition. Modestly engaging but creatively slight, “India” is a party sampler of an album by a band that doesn’t fully know what they want to be, other than hitmakers. Maybe we can’t judge it by its cover, but its predictable nonetheless.