The 1981 Listening Post - J.F.K. and the Cuban Crisis - Over The Underpass + Under The Overpass

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: August 1981 J.F.K. And The Cuban Crisis Over The Underpass + Under The Overpass Genre: Aussie New Wave Power Pop Rating: 3.9 out of 5 Highlights: Office Boy Meets Office Girl I Tried Too Hard Juliet Jones Jackie O What do you do if your given name is John Francis Kennedy and you want to make a go of it as a musician? If you’re the cheeky fellow responsible for most of the songwriting and lead vocals on this album, you name your band JFK and the Cuban Crisis and just go for it. Born in Liverpool and reared in Brisbane, Australia, John Kennedy eventually would go on to a long career of singing like Johnny Cash and playing “urban and western” music, including two full albums of Sun Records covers. Back in ‘81, he and the Crisis were far more influenced by Elvis Costello than Elvis Presley. Band mate James Paterson wrote about half the songs and alternates lead vocals with JFK. The Kennedy songs are poppier and generally more fun, while Paterson aspires to slightly more arty fare (I Tried Too Hard is dedicated to the author of All Quiet on the Western Front, Doctors and Bankers of Toulouse offers some Kinks-like social commentary). Half the songs were recorded on an Akai 4-track, and the other half were recorded live, apparently in front of a small but appreciative audience. Musically it’s a promising debut, full of energetic power pop hooks and inventive new wave riffs. Ragged harmonies and jangly guitars. Good stuff. The 8 songs clock in at just over 25 minutes, making this more EP than LP, but don’t tell Allen. The Spotify link includes both this cassette and its follow up from the following year, released as The Cassette Releases. The original cassette included two versions of I Tried Too Hard, but if you want to hear the studio cut, it’s on The Vinyl Releases on Spotify. I enjoyed pretty much all of this. Nothing earth shaking, but a fun little slice of Australian new wave from a group of nice young men with a clever band name and amateur recording gear. If you like that sort of thing, check it out.