The 1986 Listening Post - Seminal Rats - Omnipotent

Seminal Rats - Omnipotent

#128/1293

April 1 1986

Seminal Rats

Omnipotent

Genre: Garage Rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Truth Never Lies

This harnessed mayhem sounds like it was recorded on a four track in someone’s insulated basement and that’s hugely charming. 

It’s short. It’s fast. It’s face melting. And, while the entire band is up to the task, for me, it’s all about the thrashing lead guitar work of Michael Weber, who died from a heroin overdose in 1999. 

How can you play like this on heroin? I don’t get it. What a shame. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/omnipotent/1271833810

The 1986 Listening Post - New Kids on the Block - New Kids on the Block

New Kids on the Block - New Kids on the Block

#127/1292

April 1 1986

New Kids on the Block

New Kids on the Block

Genre: Bubblegum Pop

2.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Stop It Girl

Yes. That’s right. We are gonna check in on the New Kids cuz why The fuck knew they released an album in 19-fucking-86??? This means that NKOTB’s Ben around for longer than half the history of Rock and Roll and that’s a thing all right. 

In the spirit of The Jackson 5 and The Osmonds is this bubblegum pop. 

And in the spirit of rock and roll it’s all about whites kids appropriating and selling dance music to the masses of screaming Mallrats. 

“Popsicle” doesn’t suck. But that don’t mean I’ll highlight it.  

This is exactly what you expect it to be. But it does have the song “New Kids on the Block” on it, which was co-written and rapped by Donnie Wahlberg, the true Wahlberg talent. (And it’s b-a-a-d). 

Ugh nothing I’ve heard in over 2000 albums is as creepily unctuous as “I Wanna Be Loved By You”.

Yuck. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/new-kids-on-the-block/192667373

The 1986 Listening Post - Gone - Gone II But Never Gone

Gone - Gone II But Never Gone

#126/1291 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

April 1 1986     

Gone 

Gone II But Never To Gone 

Genre: Punk/Jazz

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

New Vengeance

Turned Over Stone

Adams

GTV

More Greg Ginn and his free form Punk-Metal-Jazz fusion. And, like his other post Black Flag DC 3 stuff...I like it. Which has me wondering... Was Henry Rollins the problem all along??

Gone was improvised stuff by a group of really talented guys who thrashed. This album is fantastic. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/gone-ii-but-never-too-gone/117989106

The 1986 Listening Post - Book of Love - Book of Love

Book of Love - Book of Love

#125/1290

April 1 1986

Book of Love

Book of Love

Genre: SynthPop

4 out of 5

Highlights:
You Make Me Feel So Good

I Touch Roses

Boy

Die Matrosen

Hooboy. We are really getting to that point where “SynthPop” is no longer “Rock” and is really R&B and Dance, aren’t we? Not there yet, but it really feels like that’s where we are headed. 

Reading up on this band, turns out a lot of their success came from a relationship with…Depeche Mode. 

This is much more accessible and pretty than DM’s stuff. 

The singles are what’s worthwhile here. (and “Die Matrosen”) The rest is forgettable filler.

It’s weird to me just how played out this sounds but jump ahead to the next century and groups like Sons & Daughters and I Love You Airlines and I’ll be all over this shit. 

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/book-of-love/903133

The 1986 Listening Post - Abcedarians - Eureka

Abcedarians - Eureka

#124/1289

1986 Housekeeping

Abecedarians

Eureka

Genre: Too early for Shoegaze but…..

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Soil

On the first track I just get a sense that everyone is waiting for everyone else to decide they are done. Which is a shame cuz the next one, “Soil” is actually a nice mash up of ambient and New Order-y post-punk and everything after that suggests that this band was on to something, if everyone else would just catch up.

Not quite there enough to be compelling or ground breaking but not a bad record to play on Alexa while taking a shower and getting ready for the day. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/eureka/720846643

The 1986 Listening Post - Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Element of Light

Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Element of Light

#123/1288

1986 Housekeeping

Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians

Element of Light

Genre: Rock

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

If You Were a Priest

Somewhere Apart

The President

Bass

Never Stop Bleeding

Are The Egyptians the equivalent of The Attraction? Or The Imposters? Or the myriad “& The”’s that pervade rock’s annals that, when added to a singular artist, they seem to elevate his/her better instincts and talents in a palpable way?

I really don’t care for Robyn when he’s on his own but with The Egyptians? Delicious. Yes, it’s very Lennon-y. But that don’t make it not good. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/element-of-light/283560677 

The 1986 Listening Post - The Dead Milkmen - Eat Your Paisley

The Dead Milkmen - Eat Your Paisley

#122/1287

1986 Housekeeping

The Dead Milkmen

Eat Your Paisley

Genre: Alternative Indie

2 out of 5

Highlights: 

Moron

“BF Skinner has eaten my dinner.”?

I think the perfect title for this record should be, “Second Albums Are Hard.” Cuz, as much as Big Lizard was a revelation of ramshackle DIYness this is just a retread of the same path. 

It’s not godawful but there’s nothing eminently likable. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/eat-your-paisley/162532147

The 1986 Listening Post - Tandy & Morgan - Earth Rise

Tandy & Morgan - Earth Rise

#121/1286

1986 Housekeeping

Tandy & Morgan

Earth Rise

Genre: Space Opera

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Asteroid

The Third Planet

Oh, dear. The mastering here is just inconsistent. And, considering that it comes from some ELO guys that makes so little sense. It vacillates between sounding great and sound like ti was recorded in a mud room.

But this thing is so weird…like…take the Jeff Lynne out of ELO and you get…this. And it’s not terrible. Not at all.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/earth-rise/499680387

The 1986 Listening Post - Adrian Belew - Desire caught By the Tail

Adrian Belew - Desire caught By the Tail

#120/1285

1986 Housekeeping

Adrian Belew

Desire Caught By the Tail

Genre: Experimental

1.75 out of 5

You have the Residents who have a wild sense of humor and an innate understanding of how they come across and they play into that to their favor, more often than not.

And then you have Brian Eno who completely invented “ambient” music and gave the world a bunch of amazing records.

And there’s Beefheart. And, even Zappa. 

There’s a cheekiness to all of them, as though they accept that they are weirdos and are happy to be weirdos. 

Belew comes across as though he’s IMPORTANT. And I find all of his nonsense off putting. 

I might accept “Laughing Man” as an example of his ability to play in the land of piffle but it goes on forever and has no sense of its own joke.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/desire-caught-by-the-tail/1443587959

The 1986 Listening Post - The Delmonas - Delmonas 5

The Delmonas - Delmonas 5

#119/1284

1986 Housekeeping

The Delmonas

Delmonas 5

Genre: Retro 60s Girl Group

2.5 out of 5

Billy Childish, a British Kim Fowley of sorts, is back at it with the girl group he put together the year before. That album was crisp and full of fun and surprises. This one opens with the theme song to Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and I don’t really understand why. Aside from a couple Childish tunes there’s a bunch of covers that have been run through the Delmonas taffy machine but the flavor is all vanilla. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/delmonas-5/893327176