Wall of Voodoo - Dark Continent
#381
By Jim Coursey
August 18 1981
Wall of Voodoo
Dark Continent
Genre: New Wave Spaghetti Westerns on Speed
Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Jim’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Red Light
Full of Tension
Me and My Dad
Back in Flesh
To the extent that people remember Wall of Voodoo at all, most would likely pin them as an early 80s novelty act or one hit wonder*. There was that sole hit “Mexican Radio” from 1982’s “Call of the West”, but nothing else they did really pierced the mainstream. However, that pop anomaly was merely the friendliest iteration of the band’s improbable aesthetic: a New Wave band fixated on Spaghetti Western soundtracks, fronted by a carnival barker and backed by a rhythm box sputtering out a relentless stream of double time beats. They honed this particular aesthetic over an EP and two LPs before singer Stan Ridgway left, and the remaining band struggled to reinvent itself with a slicker sound and a more generic vocal approach.
After showing some early promise on their debut EP, the band’s sound gelled on their debut album “Dark Continent.” “Red Light” sets the tone out of the gate, with its relentless Western movie woodblocks, discordant synths, stabbing guitars, anxious groove, and working class anger. The track is thick with tension, and peppered with brooding Morricone-esque guitars. This is the definitive Wall of Voodoo sound, and they’ll revisit this palette throughout the album, occasionally adding their signature “synth gone haywire” arpeggios into the mix, such as on standout track “Back in Flesh.”
While it would be hard to describe this album as goth, the band is fundamentally dark, underscored by a few terrifically deadpan numbers here that recall the tone of their plodding early cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” The lyrics to “Me and My Dad” suggest a bland 50s sitcom father and son relationship, but are presented with a heavy, ironic menace. Meanwhile, “Good Times” makes a predictably jaded attempt at looking at the bright side of a breakup, bearing no resemblance to the buoyant Chic hit of the same name.
The songs are catchy enough, in their own weird way, though rarely conventionally hooky. “Full of Tension” is one of the more hummable tracks, and paradoxically one of the least tense tracks on this white knuckle affair. Still, a paranoid air pervades through this track as it does the rest of the album.
Stan Ridgway’s lyrics throughout can be hit and miss. There’s an instantly identifiable vibe of classic Hollywood B movies – Westerns and noirs – running throughout. Ridgway’s themes evoke capitalist alienation in the American West, either through the eyes of an everyman steamrolled by industry, or a bitter criminal lashing back at an oppressive system. A black humor pervades, but sometimes his rhymes are too forced, his subjects too contrived to really resonate or even provoke a laugh, as on tracks like the rather goofy and nonsensical “Animal Day.” Still, he has a distinctive voice, both literally and figuratively, and the success of the band clearly hinges on his delivery. (As his solo career would prove though, the band gave him an edge and some strong songwriting; save for a few bright songs, he would never reach this success alone.)
Listening to this album for the first time in years, it’s easy to see Wall of Voodoo’s limitations. Their sound featured an unlikely blend of elements that seems doomed to fail in the long run – I can’t imagine them making more than the handful of albums they did. But one person’s dead end is another person’s cul de sac, and for me, Wall of Voodoo represents a memorable and brilliant moment in early 80s post punk. As the epitome of that sound -- both its purest encapsulation and its most consistent set of songs -- I still love “Dark Continent.
*Side note about the term “one hit wonder”: I personally rather hate this appellation when broadly applied. The implication, intended or not, focuses on an artist’s limited mainstream success rather than the overall quality of their output. Isn’t there more to music than the hits? Sure, if an artist produces a weak, generic album or two of mostly filler surrounding a single, moderately catchy hit, then it’s more than applicable. Wall of Voodoo produced, in my view, two solid albums (not to mention a couple great covers). They may not be important albums -- music history may not have fundamentally changed were they never recorded. They may not be broadly loveable -- these are quirky albums to say the least. Nevertheless, Wall of Voodoo can accurately called a one hit wonder because of that one hit, and their limited impact beyond it. Still, had they never recorded a radio hit, Wall of Voodoo would have remained a cult band, a memorable oddity from the LA music scene. Putting accuracy aside, I believe that is a more fair way for history to remember them.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0d3TWCJ5Pk8OYONvB5bWZc?si=WRTDbHfhQUG-EINuR8rg-w
