The 1986 Listening Post - New Model Army - The Ghost of Cain

New Model Army - The Ghost of Cain

#402/2081 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

September 1 1986

New Model Army

The Ghost of Cain

Genre: What the Clash should have been

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

The Hunt

Lights Go Out

51st State

All of This

Heroes

One of the massive discoveries of this project for me has been New Model Army, a band that should have been much much bigger than they were. A next step from punk, assertive and catchy, groovy and danceable but not to the point of Big Audio Dynamite, NMA has teeth and they are sharp. 

I love this record, I love that I dot to discover them 30+ years later and marvel at how, three records in a row they have remained virtually anonymous but killer. 

Honestly, I want to keep this going just to watch New Model Army keep pressing on. They put out a new album last year and the one before that was hailed as one of their best. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-ghost-of-cain/692234162

The 1985 Listening Post - New Model Army - No Rest for the Wicked

New Model Army - No Rest for the Wicked

#151

May 1 1985

New Model Army

No Rest for the Wicked

Genre: Rock

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Frightened

Grandmother’s Footsteps

Better than Them

No Rest

Drag it Down

NMA was a bit of a discovery for me last go round. Here they kick any post-punk to the rearview and amp up the pedal to the medal post-new wave rock. 

I’m a sucker for this band, it seems. 

Did they ever tour with The Alarm because they are trafficking in the same anthemic tropes. I wish there was someone’s roommate in college who would’ve exposed me to this. But I’m glad I get to hear them now. 

Impossible to categorize, perhaps that’s why they’ve never really broken hard into the mainstream, but this is the second excellent outing in a row from Justin Sullivan and the crew and I’m so grateful to this project for helping me discover them. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/no-rest-for-the-wicked/696714025

The 1985 Listening Post - New Model Army - No Rest for the Wicked

New Model Army - No Rest for the Wicked

#151

May 1 1985

New Model Army

No Rest for the Wicked

Genre: Rock

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Frightened

Grandmother’s Footsteps

Better than Them

No Rest

Drag it Down

NMA was a bit of a discovery for me last go round. Here they kick any post-punk to the rearview and amp up the pedal to the medal post-new wave rock. 

I’m a sucker for this band, it seems. 

Did they ever tour with The Alarm because they are trafficking in the same anthemic tropes. I wish there was someone’s roommate in college who would’ve exposed me to this. But I’m glad I get to hear them now. 

Impossible to categorize, perhaps that’s why they’ve never really broken hard into the mainstream, but this is the second excellent outing in a row from Justin Sullivan and the crew and I’m so grateful to this project for helping me discover them. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/no-rest-for-the-wicked/696714025

The 1984 Listening Post - New Model Army - Vengeance

New Model Army - Vengeance

#91

April 4th 1984

New Model Army

Vengeance

4 out of 5

Highlights:

Christian Militia

Vengeance

Here’s another release that’s only available to stream on YouTube. 

I’m sure this is going to be one of those moments when I express disbelief that I’ve never heard of these guys and someone in the Listening Post army will have a deep wealth of historical knowledge of them and I will feel stupid. So, Friday.

The raw, driving post-punkness and political calls to arms/working class ethics culminates on Side One’s pulsing A Liberal Education. And Side Two picks up from that denouement 

Their sense of pop is not as keen as The Alarm’s whereas their rebellious instincts are BUT The Alarm disintegrated and NMA has been putting out albums as recently as 2016.

The title track could be an anthem for today. Just proving that some things, like corruption and oppression in favor of the rich, never change. 

I just wish the guitar solos were less cacophonous and made more sense. The bass is doing its own thing, which is great, since the drums are plowing the road, but that should leave Sullivan room to make some statements with his guitar instead of sounding confused. But, I’m picking nits. This is a pretty excellent debut. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzY0k0g3c8