There's a scene in High Fidelity when two young punks try to shoplift from Rob's record store. One of them drops their skateboard and Rob chases after them. They eventually drop their stash, which at a glance includes the Minutemen's Double Nickles on the Dime and Brian Eno's Music for Films."Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Breakbeats, Serge Gainsbourg. What are you guys, stealing for other people?"
"No, those are for us."
"You guys slamming to Joni Mitchell now?"
I should've followed up on those reference earlier, as I undoubtedly would've gotten to Yellow Magic Orchestra sooner than just last year. But here I am, just now getting to Sigue Sigue Sputnik.Their album Flaunt It--which is essentially the extent of their career--is pretty wild. The sound is somewhere between Suicide and a glammed-up Devo with Max Headroom as the frontman. Not knowing much, I would've placed this as late 70s or early 80s, so I was surprised to find this didn't come out until 1986.As much as I find it enjoyable, I don't think Flaunt It is really that mind-blowing. It's got a lot of energy and it's fun to listen to but man is it a handful. The song below is one of the few comedowns on the album, "Atari Baby."
The Ramones' first album came out in 1976. "God Save the Queen" was released in 1977. So sometimes it blows my mind that, the Stooges' Fun House came out in 1970 or T. Rex did Electric Warrior in 1971. In a similar feat that makes me double-check the chronology, the New York Dolls' first album came out in 1973. It was produced by Todd Rundgren in the same year he did A Wizard, A True Star, an album that seems the polar opposite of punk's straightforwardness. I can't really say I like this better than the Stooges or T. Rex or whatever but it's still pretty amazing for what it is. I'll check out their second album as well. In the meantime, here's some trash:
Two strikes so far for Ultravox. I'll try Systems of Romance before I call it quits, though. The two Ultravox albums I have tried seem too inconsistent. Most of this album (their debut) sounds like Space Oddity leftovers, so if there's something special here, I'm missing it. Brian Eno is credited as a co-producer on the album, but as far as I can tell, only the closing track "My Sex" has his touch. Compare that track with what Eno did two years prior on Another Green World:
YES, how did it take so long to come across this. An album from 1978 that straddles funkish punk or glam-rock of the 70s and the synthesized New Romantic movement of the 80s, confidently dipping its essence square on your head. It's as if Nile Rodgers of Chic produced a David Bowie album...except that actually happened in 1983 and it's not as good as Adolescent Sex. Or if Gang of Four sang about sex instead of politics, although Japan does have a song about "Communist China." Maybe I'm not good at analogies. At any rate, this album is swagger incarnate. Witness halfway into "Performance," when those high xylophone notes hit. YES.
