The 1986 Listening Post - Stray Cats - Rock Therapy

Stray Cats - Rock Therapy

#83/1250

March 2 1986

Stray Cats

Rock Therapy

Genre: Rockabilly

3.25 out of 5

This is the sound of a contract obligation.

Brian sounds tired. He’s noodling his way through the 1-4-5’s and making vain attempts at howling but you can tell that his heart isn’t it. 

We’ve all moved on from the retro sound of 1981. 

Inoffensive but uninspired. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/rock-therapy/1444052203

The 1986 Listening Post - Jack Starr's Burning Starr - No Turning Back

Jack Starr's Burning Starr - No Turning Back

#82/1249

March 2 1986

Jack Starr’s Burning Starr

No Turning Back

1 out of 5

Highlights:

Fire and Rain (Just cuz…ya gotta here this thing)

This is an excuse to shriek like Dio and shred like Yngwie. But Jack Starr, while capable, is not RJD nor Malmsteen. However, he does have quite a vibrato. 

But, hey, James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” as a Heavy Metal Power Ballad ala Motley Crue? You know what? Sign me up for that stupidity. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-turning-back/1367429458

The 1986 Listening Post - Agent Orange - This is the Voice

Agent Orange - This is the Voice

#81/1248 LISTENING POST ADMIN DISCOVERY

March 1 1986

Agent Orange

This is the Voice

Genre: Paisley Punk

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

It’s In Your Head

Fire in the Rain

In Your Dreams Tonight

Tearing Me Apart

This is Not the End

This is terrific. Twangy Byrds/Ventures like guitars with just enough snarl and drive to give contemporaries a run for their money. 

It’s not a revelation like Dramarama but it’s sure damned good. Take the edge off Husker Du and make it more melodic and that’s kind of what I hear here. 

Honestly, I thought Agent Orange was a hardcore band. I’m pleasantly surprised by the musicality and the stretch outside the genre. Green Day will be hailed for this exact type of stretching. They just did it better (and stole more unabashedly).

A great record. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/this-is-the-voice/162540059

The 1986 Listening Post - Peter Hammill - Skin

Peter Hammill - Skin

#80/1247

March 1 1986

Peter Hammill

Skin

Genre: Art Rock

0.5 out of 5

So, one of the things about this project, and the primary driver of it, is the seeking out of material and artists that I may have missed out on during the years. It’s how it started out, at least. 

But, I am only human and, sometimes an artists completely skips my radar. Case in point: because I started the project in the year 1978 I completely missed Van Der Graff Generator. And, for some reason, I also never heard of Peter Hammier of said band. 

Now, because there is someone who is more skilled at compiling this list than I, I’ve now found Mr. Hammill and I really wish I hadn’t. 

This is the FOURTEENTH record by this guy. That means nothing to me having never heard any of them but, yuck. This is like someone listened to post-good Gary Numan and mixed that listening with the most unctuous David Bowie and went into the studio to see if he could out shine their horribleness. The single “Painting By Numbers” is ugly and it’s the best track here. 

This was terrible. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/skin/714440789

The 1986 Listening Post - V. Spy V. Spy - Harry's Reasons

V. Spy V. Spy - Harry's Reasons

#79/1246

March 1 1986

V. Spy V. Spy

Harry’s Reasons

Genre: Important Rock

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Learn to Laugh

Harry’s Reasons

Like Midnight Oil, this seems to a rock band from Down Under with “important things to say”. Here’s a question, though. While later they called themselves Spy V. Spy, why did they start out as V. Spy V. Spy? What is that first V for? 

I really don’t care to know the answer, I’m just looking for something to say while I listen to this very middling, also competent offering of mid-tempo 80s rock. 

It’s all very Hunters and Collectors, you know? Put it on, I bet your forget you’re playing it but you won’t hate it. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/harrys-reasons/1072252629

The 1986 Listening Post - Youth of Today - Break Down the Walls

Youth of Today - Break Down the Walls

#77/1244

March 1 1986

Youth of Today

Break Down the Walls

Genre: Hardcore Punk

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Stabbed in the Back

I’ll say this for this record, it’s short. The length would qualify as an ep but it’s not, because their songs are rapid fire little punk explosions. 

My connection to this genre dissolved decades ago and, you know what? It doesn’t really hold up. Not for me, at least. 

It always surprised me just how angry the straight edge bands were. They were so indignant about the “positivity” in their lives. But they all sounded like they wanted to rip your mother’s eyeballs from their sockets and force your dad to…well, you get the idea. Clean living!

It’s solid hardcore, played really well, calling to mind Suicidal Tendencies or an amped up Black Flag. Better than the latter, not as impactive as the former. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/break-down-the-walls/91071914

The 1986 Listening Post - Shriekback - Big Night Music

Shriekback - Big Night Music

#76/1243

1986 Housekeeping

Shriekback

Big Night Music

Genre: Pop

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Black Light Trap

Running on the Rocks

Pretty Little Things

Sticky Jazz

I really like Shriekback. They have been one of the more interesting discoveries of this project. 

As opposed to some groups who arrived fully formed and then couldn’t last (as so many bands seem to) Shriekback has gotten better with each record. In this one they are shooting for commercial success and, dammit, I am there for it. 

A very rewarding spin that calls to mind Erasure at their most capable. Years later artists like Mika will mainstream stuff like “Cradle Song”.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1LJXQ8h8ls2MaEFauL608z?si=IK9wzxi1Q9SOy56txRA3cg

The 1986 Listening Post - Boys Don't Cry - Boys Don't Cry

Boys Don't Cry - Boys Don't Cry

#75/1242

1986 Housekeeping

Boys Don’t Cry

Boys Don’t Cry

Genre: SynthPop

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Cities on Fire

I Wanna Be a Cowboy

I wanna call this record “The Revenge of SynthRock”. Well, that first track, anyway. It’s filled with abandon and joy, it’s palpable. 

I even listened to the extended version of these because I couldn’t get my finger on what contemporary band they reminded me (this is something I struggle with and am always amazed when other people can just pull of comparisons with ease) and then it hit me: Neon Trees.

I was really late to Neon Trees but I finally succumbed just in time for them to stop recording. Pop Psychology was a devoted love letter to New Wave (even more and better than Dreamcar or Bleachers) and I loved it. 

Boys Don’t Cry is the unwitting grandfather of those records. 

You know these guys. They had a pretty big hit in “I Wanna Be A Cowboy”, a song which should have been the warning that “I’m Too Sexy” was on the horizon.

That said, this style is drifting afield from the mission statement more than a wee bit. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2unvWXhYUVwQEhIpnwugch?si=5WJWXHv_Q4u--9QjpX71Sw

The 1986 Listening Post - Thelonious Monster - Baby...You're Bummin' My Life Out in a Supreme Fashion

Thelonious Monster - Baby...You're Bummin' My Life Out in a Supreme Fashion

#74/1241 LISTENING POST ADMIN DISCOVERY

1986 Housekeeping

Thelonious Monster

Baby…You’re Bummin’ My Life Out in a Supreme Fashion

Genre: Whatever the fuck they want to play, apparently

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Psychofunkindelic

Positive Train

Thelonious Monster

Joke Song

Life’s A Groove

Seriously. That’s the genre. It’s punk. It’s funk. It’s rock. It’s self-aggrandizing narratives. It’s joyous and weird and I honestly don’t know why this hasn’t been in my life. 

Some of it is awful and some of it is terrific. 

Thelonious Monster was a name I used to hear all the time in LA. Same with Fishbone. I never saw them but, what a fucking great name for a band. Also, Dread Zeppelin…boy was this shit weird. 

Is it funk? Yes. On the first track. 

But, wait…it’s punk! (“Yes Yes No”)

Hang on…it’s psychedelic garage (“Positive Train”)

WAITAMINNIT! It’s a blues jam! (“Let Me In the House”)

Spoken word? Sure. (“Joke Song”)

And that’s this record. It’s just a big honking piece of fun. It’s like kids who grew up listening and loving Zappa started a band and then it turns out they were better than Zappa ever could have hoped to be. 

Okay. I’ve read up on TM. Bob Forrest is the drug counselor who works with Dr. Drew and was on Celebrity Rehab?!?!? I love that guy. I had no idea that this was the same guy.

Fuck. What a talent. 

You know what? I’m gonna give this an extra 1/2 point for being a massive discovery for me. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/baby-youre-bummin-my-life-out-in-a-supreme-fashion/365045200

The 1986 Listening Post - Ut - Conviction

UT - Conviction

#73/1240

1986 Housekeeping

Ut

Conviction

Genre: Post-Rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Sick

Take that opening track, refine it, put Butch Vig on it and voila, Garbage. 

But then again, I don’t think the women of Ut would have allowed anything like that to happen to Ut. This is some challenging post-rock art project that is as defiant as it is ramshackle. Everything about is screams “ART PROJECT!!!” and I don’t mind that at all. In fact, that’s what makes me love it. 

This is one of those things that makes me say just because you can do some thing means you should do that thing. 

It serves no purpose save to be an updating of beat poetry, yelps, improvised semi-musicianship and I’m really glad you can listen to it on Apple Music. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/conviction/1454232646