The 1981 Listening Post - Skyscrapers - Mad Hatters and Autumn Rain

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 Skyscrapers Mad Hatters And Autumn Rain Genre: New Wave / Power Pop Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: Radio Show Read The Papers Another Guy Winston's Town Weather Mad Hatters & Autumn Rain Skyscrapers were from Liverpool, but they released only one album and didn’t leave much of a wake. I think the drummer went on to be in some other bands, but none that I’ve heard of. It’s a shame because I think they had good, even potentially great, ideas, even if they weren’t fully realized on this record. Mad Hatters and Autumn Rain bursts out of the gate with fancy synths and a new wave protest tune, Hot Line from Washington. Shades of Gary Numan, The Fixx and Duran Duran, albeit with much worse production values. This is followed by a quick power pop nugget called Radio Show: “There she goes / She’s on the radio / Have you seen her dance?” No social commentary evident here, but a fun song. Elton John’s big seventies shadow emerges for Too Late Simone Lorraine, with a dash of Bowie to keep it on the indie side. More synths, plus some violin, on Chiffon Chiffon, a sort of prog power pop tune that reminded me a bit of Supertramp. Song 5, Nobody’s Fool gets very dramatic with lots of reverb on the vocals and guitars.This one’s similar to the Duran-ish first track, but the urgency makes it work slightly better. Side Two feels almost like a suite of songs about English small town life. B.B. Air features the voice of a TV newsreader, space age synths, guitar arpeggios, and lyrics about carnations, sensations, a spaceman, and a race man. Kinda psychedelic, man. Read the Papers openly wears its Beatles influence on its sleeve, and not coincidentally has the album's most memorable hooks. It introduces local characters, Penny Lane style, and the newsreader voice makes a brief appearance. Back to the power pop with Another Guy: “The dream of my love / It haunts me every night / I’m not very strong, boys / But I put up a fight.” Fun and bouncy, with a cool little Easton-like solo. The wordplay ends early and the repetition takes over, but it's still good enough to make my highlight list. Jenny is airy and open, flirting with a new wave sound before settling into mediocre pop balladry. Winston’s Town Weather addresses an imaginary Mr. Jones, returning to the themes of BB Air and Read the Papers. The busy keyboards move the new wave guitars along: picture a less spiky XTC meets Tommy Tutone. The album ends with the title song. You know how the Verve brazenly stole that Rolling Stones string part for Bittersweet Symphony? These guys slightly rewrote that riff, played it with synthesizer, and wrote a kind of bittersweet little symphony of their own about a character trapped in a sad northern town. It’s got a strong Kinks flavor. The fadeout is “What’s new?” over and over again. I like it. As mentioned, the production is lacking, but the musicianship is acceptable. The songwriting is strong in places, merely ambitious in others. I would have enjoyed hearing a follow up, if one had ever happened, but it seems it never did.