The 1981 Listening Post - The Nits - Work

 The Nits - Work

#628

November 13 1981

The Nits

Work

Genre: Why are there so many bands!?!?

2.25 out of 5

I mean it’s crazy, right? 

This is review #600-something. For 1981. NINETEEN EIGHTY ONE! 

And that doesn’t include Pop. R&B. Rap. Soul. Jazz. Country. I mean, holy fucking hell. This is no way to run a business. 

This Nits album, as opposed to all the others I’ve never heard, is an exercise in minimalist post-rock art pretentia. 

I walked away to talk to my wife while this was on, then decided to do the dishes and came back outside to realize I had forgotten I was playing it. 

Being a completist of sorts I went back and played it where I walked away. These are basically art school sketches. 

Listening on Spotify, I swore “Goodbye, Mr. Chips!” Was an ad for a supermarket. But the copy never kicked in. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/60x8NXhTFdtQ4ZWhke5D2a?si=wHBlfFckRW241QLKg0sAnQ

The 1980 Listening Post - The Nits - New Flat

 The Nits - New Flat

#444

November 14 1980

The Nits

New Flat

Genre: Weird, for the sake of being. 

2.25 out of 5

Equal parts Adam Ant, XTC, Kraftwerk, John Lennon, David Bowie and Devo and, well, a host of late 70s New Wavers, New Flat is one of the more bizarre albums from 1980 that I’ve heard. 

The thing is just about every song goes nowhere and yet promised to take me on a weirdo journey each time. 

Without the joy or bubblegum aspirations that festooned Adam and the Ants’ Dirk Wears White Sox but a similar cousin in so many ways, I found this record to be more annoying than enjoyable. 

Songs like “Statue” should be menacing but they just feel like they fell off the White album outtakes. The Residents should be credited on “Zebra” since it’s such an obvious rip. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/new-flat/270980987

The 1986 Listening Post - The Nits - Henk

The Nits - Henk

#180/1345 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

May 20 1986

The Nits

Henk

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Port of Amsterdam

Erom On

Cabins

Years ago, when it was still around, I went to Tower Records. This was in it’s waning days but I hadn’t been in a while and I used to live 100 feet from it. There was a twinge of nostalgia but that passed quickly because, let’s face it, Tower’s layout was garish and annoying. 

BUT! The clerks knew their shit. As they are supposed to in a record store. Or in a book store. Or in a video store. Or….And, after a brief convo I left with a bunch of CDs and one of them was by Futureheads. 

An album that sounded nothing like the Adam Ant I was sold as but was sufficiently New Wave revival. 

This is reminding me of that. I didn’t like the Nits last one. And then their leader left and this weird thing was created in that wake. And I find it playful and joyous and all over the map. Unlike anything I was expecting to hear in 1986, it’s the quirkiness of Wall of Voodoo, the experimentation of Legendary Pink Dots, The synthy goofballitry of early 80s Yes and more fun than them and everything in between. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/henk-kilo/271048789

The 1984 Listening Post - The Nits - Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof

The Nits - Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof

#362
1984 Housekeeping
The Nits
Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof
2.5 out of 5

Highlights:
Woman Cactus
Mask


Somehow I missed all of The Nits. They released something like 5 albums before this one and I've heard none of them.
The first track, "Woman Cactus" is a neat little pop ditty that sounds like a Christmas song. Like, really, are those tubular bell synths?
A good example of what this band sounds like is the track, "Think it Over" which sounds like if Joe Jackson fronted a synth band. Never as good as him or Elvis Costello ("Mask") but boy sometimes they really do come close.
This gentle pop-rock record echoes some of the retro-cole porter stuff the holy duo of Joe/Elvis were doing back then. And it could stand in for their stuff, like a much less interesting cousin to Imperial Bedroom.
And boy does it get boring towards it's sleepy end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8E0GvSmEr8&list=OLAK5uy_kL9CajO3tUJ9IDG054_jVh1nhneFcuByw