the SHAKE Summation

Rip It Up, Issue 76, 1 November 1983, Page 26

the SHAKE Summation

Russell Brown

Car Crash Set Imagination (Reaction) A technological funk thang that's! healthy but not] inspiring. The words aren't really satisfactory. It's on the B-side you'll hear the best song the Car Crash Set have recorded, Those Days’. It manages to be both graceful and bouncy and is genuinely endearing. Nice singing all round too. 1 think I like the dub of 'lmagination' better. than the original. Children's Hour Flesh (Flying Nun) Twenty years seems a long way to go. Children's Hour bare on record seemed daunting at first listenings. Nothing there to distort reality . into truth. But this is a record, not a performance, remember. Caroline's Dream', a theme if you like, sounds a little awkward but the strength of vision is very big. 'Go Slow', potentially savagely mocking, sounds here maybe like I should cry Oi but I I read and resist. 'I Know Where She Lies’ is the only one of five I can't find it in my heart to embrace

it sounds too much like a whine, obvious. Turning over is a turn for the best; Slaughterhouse' is savage, broken and no, this is not a lapsed Catholic singing. But 'Looking for the Sun . After the opening narrative it bends upwards into something unselfconsciously psychedelic and superb. The beauty of speed.

Occasionally Chris Matthews makes'a Tool of himself but : if, he didn't there'd be no point. Children's Hour can play their instruments better now than when they made this record it's that sort of situation. 1 could simply say it's one of the best records to be made here recently but it's not j that] simple. This is fact, this is not a lie, etc. The Mockersjß|Qp^ Alvison Park (Reaction) The Mockers still don't convince me 1 live but their’ ability to come up with the consistently insistent in records is'beyond contention., A Breezy pop song about escaping into fantasy on that. score it's not quite 'Rolling Moon' but it'll reach a lot more ears. With the radio playing it already the Mockers might get the hit . they deserve. Dance Exponents Know Your Own Heart I (Mushroom)KWßßßß Oooooh ... oh dear. The great Australian levelling machine strikes again. The best production the Dance Exponents have hadi but easily the worst single. After repeated playings it's mildly catchy but the bounce and enthusiasm that made the Exponents a bit special isn't here. The flip Just Me and You' is wildly plagiaristic and not a whole lot better. Diehards Take My Hand (Hit Singles) An alright sort of song that isn't [ bad but doesn't end up going far. I don't mind it but if, the Diehards ever got as far as making an album this would be an album track. Pity is ’ that two better songs' are

squandered on dodgy live recordings on the flip. 'She Left' drops an upbeat tune behind a sad theme and works neatly and (here we go again) 'Hit That Beat' is simply a great pop song. With one Auckland radio station consistently playing what is really a dowdy old early demo of the song perhaps it might be time to record it properly? Nah, it's probably too late now. Again, pity.

The Body Electric Dreaming in a Life (Jayrem) A pretty competent piece, spiced up by some spirited bass twanging from Wendy Calder. Gary Smith remains a little too mannered a vocalist for my tastes but there's no denying he has a strong voice. The problem is (and it goes for the flip, 'lnterior Exile' and the. instrumental 'Rubber Knife') is that there's nothing really startling. If the songs, were outstanding or the music was bolder I might like it. Russ; Le Roq Shattered Glass (CBS)

Russ goes modern. More traditional in composition than the Car Crash Set which may mean it'll go further. Its charms are three; a wilful rrjelody that can t decide what it wants to do, some nice bass playing and the delivery of the refrain "Time spent on laughter is time that doesn't last." Not a great single but he's got more chance with this one than any previous one. ECF Radio W.A.N.K. (New Future) I'd been led to believe these guys were just noise merchants, but, on the contrary, the A-side here,

'Drop Me Off' is a pleasingly sparse, rather vividly etched piece of, weekend. I hate the other, two, 'Call Girl' and 'Sadists and Masochists', though - mainly for IheifjlyficslflHißß Terror of Tinytown I 'Am the,Need,(Ze Disc) A quirky, rather dark little piece of electronic pop that makes me want to go and see ToT live again (I'd all but given up on them). The flip, 'See the Change' is [a! little straighter but not quite as good. Promise. Phil Judd Dream'n' Away (Mushroom) A summery, whimsical song that doesn't really do a lot. It's not a bad song but I guess we've come to expect a lot from Phil Judd. The flip Sooner or Later' sounds like Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' Part II (really!). Both sides sound over produced. What 1 mean to say is, I don't mind either of, them, but ...

Josie Rika and Lee Connolly Love is Just Around the Corner (Mushroom)

A MOR song with a shade too much guitar in it to be a proper MOR song. It doesn't do a great deal for me but then it's not meant to appeal to someone like me. I think the chorus is catchy enough for it to do well.