The 1981 Listening Post - The Brains - Electronic Eden

 The Brains - Electronic Eden

#88

1981 Housekeeping

The Brains

Electronic Eden

Genre: Power Wave

2.5 out of 5

How do you follow up a terrific but unheralded debut record, which would contain a future hit (like Robert Hazard’s success) on the Cyndi Lauper monster? 

I really don’t know because we only have half the tracks. That’s the thing about The Brains, whatever Tom Gray did, and it caught the attention of the likes of Steve Lillywhite, it was ambitious and lost to the dustbin of history.

Eden is…ambitious and dull. At least the half that I heard. Nothing captures imagination. It’s all very muddy and abrasive, almost as though Tom wants you to not enjoy it. There’s a bit of energy on “Asphalt Wonderland” but it feels like leftover Cars. 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AR7sshxA2g&list=PLlvn8uktX5LtuZC4-CcfunS_twB1FLnGc  (Missing 5 tracks - Dream Life, No Tears Tonight, Heart In the Street, House of Cards and Collision)

The 1980 Listening Post - The Brains - The Brains

The Brains - The Brains

#64 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

1980 Housekeeping

The Brains

The Brains

Genre: Terrifying Wave

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Treason

Raeline

In the Night

Money Changes Everything

Scared Kid

Sweethearts

Not to be confused with the Psychobilly band of the same name from the 00s. 

Man…Georgia. Some crazy shit came out of the Peach state. 

You know The Brains. I mean, you don’t. But you do. First off, that opening track could be the Kids in the Hall theme by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. it’s a terrific way to open this dank offering of New Wave Nuggets.

Secondly, Tom Gray, the brains behind The Brains, wrote “Money Changes Everything” that Cyndi Lauper turned into a megabit. 

I don’t know if Gray knew how to turn his angst into a mainstream success but this record makes me wish I heard it back in 1980. In the end I think Steve Lillywhite is the wrong guy for this band. His sound is too expansive, too lush. I think they would have benefitted from more air in-between all the instruments. 

I do adore how “Sweethearts” is one of those rock songs that just eats Pachelbel’s Canon (with slight changes) and doesn’t give a shit who knows it. 

Different producer and a label who cared and this album could have been an underground classic. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRV4pVm-6tU