Spicks and Spex

Press, 29 November 1979, Page 14

Spicks and Spex

RECORD REVIEWS

by

Nevin Topp

X-RAY SPEX “Germfree Adolescents” (EMI EMC 151). “My mind is like a plastic bag,” shrills Poly Styrene, the lead singer for X-Ray Spex on this 1978 release that has finally floated to the shores of New Zealand. It would be easy to make a comparison with Blondie, because both bands have one

woman four-man line-ups. but it would be unfair to the Spex.

"Germ-free Adolescents” could easily be underestimated. The lyrics appear childish, and the music is also deceptive in Content. In fact. "Plastic Bag” is the weakest track

on the whole album, for some of this new-wave band’s material is excellent.

The opening track is called "Art-i-ficial,” a neat little play on words, as is the title track, “Germ-free Adolescents (ad-o-lescents) — which is Styrene saying we are all products of the consumer society, as her own name implies. In fact, one track not on the New Zealand release, called “Girls’ Room Stuff,” goes “When I put on my make-up/A pretty little mask not me/That’s the way it’s gotta be/In a consumer society.” It is all exploitation in one way or another. “The cat ate the rat/while the

pimp beat the whore/And she just screams/For more and more.” sings Poly on “I Live Off You.” "AH’s fair in love and marketing as the album cover itself proves. All the group are in test tubes (babies, conformity?), while Styrene’s own record company is not above a little exploitation of their own, as the single

“Oh, Bondage. Up Yours, was released four times. Styrene sounds shrill on her earlier material, such as “Identity,” but is more relaxed on “Warrior In Woolworths.” The band also sound better on the later stuff, the cool sax of Rudi Thomson sounding a lot like Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, especially on the title track. Humour is also to be found on the album, so that while it makes you think you cannot take it too seriously. After all, we don’t want to be exploited. THE BOOMTOWN RATS “The Fine Art of Surfacing” (Mercury 6310960). The Boomtown Rats are into video in a big way now, and some of the songs on “The Fine Art of Surfacing” reflect this progression. One accusation you cannot make against the Rats is that of standing still, especially Bob Geldof. He has his eyes firmly focused on the future, and the way the songs are written he just hungers for work. At the end of “Surfacing” a voice says “that concludes episode three ... we will return shortly,” and you had better believe it. The single release, “I Don’t Like Mondays.” has been thrashed, its obvious theatrical content so useful for video treatment.

An even better story line is “Diamond Smiles,” which was also culled from a newspaper report by Geldof. It tells the story of a debutante who hangs herself at a party (“She went up the stairs/Stood up on a vanity chair/Tied her lame belt around the chandelier/And went out kicking at the perfumed air”) and

in the paper one person described the victim as having “a nice smile,” as if that was all they could remember about her. On the recent tour of Britain, Geldof was getting photographers to get up on stage and take photographs of the audience while the band played “Having My Picture Taken,” which is on "Surfacing,” Geldof is a former journalist, so it is his way of saying this is the media which filters what happens between the artist and his audience — whether it is a live performance, reivew, or general news. The band has worked hard musically as well, although Bruce Springsteen deserves a mention for giving a helping hand, unintentionally, with borrowed chords along the way, especially Johnnie Fingers on keyboards, taking Roy Bitten’s E. Street Band part. The title, “The Fine Art Of Surfacing,” was a phrase that stuck in Geldof’s mind when he was reading a “Psychology Today” journal.

h T H E B-52’s "The B-52’s” (Warner Bros., BSK 3355).

The term B-52 does not refer to the American bomber aircraft, but it could refer to a blonde bomber for it is a slang term for the type of hair styles that Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, of the band, wear. The B-52’s are a mixture of the mod revival taking in early 1960 s pop and then throwing in some Patti Smith vocals from the two girls in the band. At times the band can sound like Smith, Talking Heads, or Petula Clark, although in the latter case “Downtown” sounds nothing like the escapist original. “Dance The Mess Around” is an infra-dig at the suburban parties, quite witty in its references to doing the Shy Tuna, the Camel Walk, the Ditty Dog, and the Escalator. In spite of its pop outlook, which is almost kitsch, the “garage group” (like Pere Übu), the flashy word-plays, and the shrieks and gurgles of Kate and Cindy make a

completely different album. A good example is “Lava.” Say it fast enough and it sounds like “lover.” So the clever slurred words and the almost “Sweet Sixteen” approach on “52 Girls” add up to an interesting, lively record.

THE JAM “All Mod Cons” (Polydor 2383517). The Jam are regarded as leaders of the mod revivalist movement in Britain, and it is easy to understand why. Paul Weller, the leader of the band, has an affinity for early Who material, and in this case early Stones and Beatles too. In a sense “All Mod Cons” is a joke on Weller for it is a slight con, as fond as he is of making his own puns (“A Bomb On Wardour Street”). Like the X-Ray Spex album, the Jam issue comes from 1978, containing the classic “Down In A Tube Station At Midnight” — a street fighting gang’s “celebration.”

In a recent “Melody Maker” interview, Bob Geldof, of the Boomtown Rats, explained that the critics preferred “Tube Station” to the Rats release, “Rat Trap,” which was also about gang warfare. Geldof maintains “Rat Trap” was based on personal experience, while Weller’s daddy owned a big car factory in Woking.

“David Watts” steals the guitar riffs from the Beatles “She Loves You” and guitar-playd-back-wards “Revolver” technique is used on “In The Crowd.”

To give him credit. Weller has tried something different, an acoustic guitar-based love song, complete with a background of sea noises. It succeeds only because of its naive, genuine approach.