The 1980 Listening Post - The Motels - Careful

 The Motels - Careful                                    

#246

June 15 1980

The Motels

Careful

Genre: New Wave

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Danger

Envy

Before they settled in to a formula where most songs sounded like they were trying to recreate their biggest success The Motels put out this record and it’s a pretty interesting and weirdly Devo/Blondie-esque New Wave offering. 

Yeah, yeah, the title track is super pretentious. But, aside from missteps like that and “Cry Baby” and “Whose Problem"(which aren’t bad just filler) the album is perfectly acceptable entry level New Wave. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/careful/1493439188

The 1985 Listening Post - The Motels - Shock

The Motels - Shock

#310/945

August 1985

The Motels

Shock

Genre: Pop Rock

2.75 out of 5

Here’s the thing. Every song sounds the same and they all sound like their first big hit. If the band could just rerecord “Only the Lonely” over and over again, I think they’d’ve been happy. That’s about they breadth of their scope. 

This record did nothing for me. Ok. It made me miss Pat Benatar’s best stuff a bit. But so did Divinyls. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/shock/1443717256