Reviewed by Paul J Zickler
Released: 1981 B.Troop Europeans Genre: New Wave Sci-Fi Synthpop Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: Not Coming Back New Human Fade Away Yvette Just Because Killing Conversation I’m currently reading Pete Townshend’s autobiography, Who I Am (great title, right?). I just finished the section about writing and recording Tommy, so when I read some of the back cover of B-Troop’s Europeans and it sounded like a concept album, I grabbed it to review. Alas, closer inspection shows the liner notes to be more of a written description of a music video than a cohesive narrative. Still, there is clearly a theme present, sort of Blade Runner adjacent, albeit without the overwrought apocalyptic sentiment of that project. There are songs about androids, computers, clones, and spies (lyric examples: “You got your wires crossed” and “Looking for the Russians / Also MI-5 / Contacts with the CIA”). To my knowledge, this is the earliest LP I’ve reviewed accompanied almost entirely by a drum machine (three tracks feature human drumming, but not exclusively). The credits say “Compurhythms by Roland,” which I find very cute. It reminds me of a student I taught in the late ‘90’s who played solo shows with his guitar and his “drummer,” a DR-770 he introduced as Doctor Boss. Good times. The drum sounds here are pretty straightforward, but mostly pretty good, and sometimes really good. I assume they were programmed by bass player John Leek, who gets credit for “Claptrap.” A 2008 online review said the album was released eight months late by Illuminated Records, which “promtly went bust.” (sic) So they most likely wrote these songs well before the release date. There’s a late ‘70’s synthpop groove here, which somehow sounds fresh, at least to me. The use of saxophone and heavy dance beats suggests a two-tone influence as well. The surest way to sink this kind of music is by putting overdramatic vocals too far upfront, but B-Troop refrain from this flaw, and while lead singer Kevin Donoghue doesn’t have a great voice, it’s not annoying either. It’s all very British, but mostly the fun kind of British, not the pretentious kind. The highlights: Not Coming Back, the album opener, sets a fun and engaging tone for what’s to come, dropping in computerized handclaps and whip cracks. In New Human, Leek lays down a slinky bass line over some compurhythms while Donoghue’s synth trades riffs with Peter Wainwright’s sax. That song segues directly into Fade Away, which adds even more layers of synth and sax over a percolating beat that contrasts the hopelessness of the lyrics. The lone YouTube comment cites Strange Time as a highlight, and it’s not bad, full of burbling synths and perky new wave beats, but it also repeats the title roughly 40 times, a bit too much for me. I prefer Yvette, which spotlights Andy Booth’s guitar sounds around and above the synth riffs and tells the story of what I assume is some kind of android woman, who’ll never learn how to cry or know the reason why. Just Because verges on ska with its tuff rhythms, off-beat guitars and sax accents, plus it only has to sustain its quirkiness for just over 2 minutes. Killing Conversation wraps up the album with a sweet little pop excursion, ending with a radio sign off and long beep. Here’s a sample of that back cover quote that reads like a mission statement: “The musicians look like chic urban guerillas; khaki military fatigues; headbands; terse, tight-lipped expressions. Their music brings together human and mechanical elements to form a new and easily assimilable style. A plangent synth dominates the overall sound; bass and guitar add form and substance while a sax supplies the necessary colour. The result is a well-integrated group sound shot through with moments of fragile alien beauty. A drum machine (Roland --) adds a slightly incongruous edge, but otherwise the music is sharp and coherent. The songs are backing tracks to existence once removed in which the imagery of pulp science fiction is reinterpreted in lucid musical terms.” Well, that was the goal anyway. I admire them for trying, and at times they almost pull it off, but mostly this is just a cute new wave sci-fi outing. Give it a listen if that sounds fun to you.
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