Shake Summation

Rip It Up, Issue 87, 1 October 1984, Page 26

Shake Summation

Stridulators Queue/Inside TVack (House Of Squirm) A major part of the appeal of a (rare) Stridulators’ live performance is the fact that it all seems to be working on a knife edge Steve Roach in particular seems to be always only just keeping up with all he has to do to keep each piece rolling. With the comparative leisure of a four-track to record with at home, tautness is less of a factor and the music itself is allowed to develop. 'Queue' is sinister slabs of sound forming a song behind a stark lyric ... brrrrr ... ‘lnside Track' is Chris Burt's composition, friendlier-sounding, with a lyric that never came through live, it also is quite fascinating. The Stridulators don’t scorn the song as some might and I can’t see

why anyone with half an ear shouldn't love this. If your local record shop doesn’t stock it, it’s available from the House of Squirm, Box 47-295, Auckland, for $3.50. Dance Exponents Sex And Agriculture 12” (Mushroom) At last the Dance Exponents make a record that communicates the brashness that makes them what they are. Their touch here couldn’t be called tender but they romp through a huge production without sounding at all po-faced. Chris Sheehan's guitar stamps its mark on his first record appearance and Luck's lyric is underlined with just enough humour. One might carp a little about the rather rock arrangement but this' is still delightful Big Pop. Doublehappys

Double B-Side (Flying Nun) In which Dunedin youths, tripped out on girls and romance, booze ("or ... anything at all ...") and parties and frost on the ground and listening to records take up guitars and drums and pen two heartbroken pop songs full of many things you’ve heard before and some all their own ...

The Other’s Way' is a bitter-sweet three-guitar cacophony wrapped around a melody that touches

sometimes on the sublime. 'Anyone Else Would’ is more measured, marked out with a great chorus and distinctive Whine Elsey vocals. Will the next single be ‘Don't Go Back To Brockville? The Bats

By Night (Flying Nun) Robert Scott’s charming fleetfoot pop melodies have always been given a distinctively naive twist by his slightly atonal, nasal vocal delivery. To some, that’s his charm and to others it’s irritating. On this EP he’s in typically eccentric form, the exception being 'My Way', which is a genuinely poor vocal performance. Elsewhere, it's his melodies ducking and diving over the jaunty, C&W riddum section, with ‘I Go Wild’, 'Jeweller’s Heart' and 'United Airways' standing out. Still not as much fun as live Bats, however. IQU

Witchcraft (Jayrem) The title track, punctuated as it is with sounds and snatches of speech from Our Leaders, will provoke accusations of copying overseas trends but it’s better than bloody 'Two Tribes’ anyway. Genuinely well conceived, with Ryan (bass) and Betty Monga (vocals) making guest appearances and again begging the question as to why they’re not

coining it in in some fashion they deserve to. ‘Room At the Top’ features some good low-register singing from Paul Agar and 'Paper Dolls’ is bearable but lacks a little in the melody stakes. Car Crash Set

Breakdown (Reaction) A whole lot of Good Bits (including the rhythm behind the stuttering "B” of the title) which don’t quite cohere into a satisfactory song. The main problem is the hackneyed-sounding chorus which seems to give the whole song a sense of derivativeness which isn’t a fair reflection of the band. Those Days’ remains the best Car Crash Set song and I still expect good things from the album. Marginal Era Haven't I Seen Your Face Before (Reaction) Something of a change from previous Marginal Era records. Paul Agar provides his usual high standard of singing and melody but lets both breathe within a croony, nicely sappy song that must get played on the radio. On the flip is the instrumental version of 'This Heaven’, aka the Radio With Pictures theme so you can (although God knows why) pretend it’s 9.30 pm on a Sunday at 3.30 am on a Wednesday, if you wish.

Peking Man Scared Of A Sound (Hit Singles) Peking Man have firmly established a style for themselves. It’s my misfortune, I suppose, that at times I find it collosally irritating. The A-side is full of typically clumsy cleverness (but the backing vocals are nice) and ’Pull It Apart’ sees Pat Urlich flexing his phrasing' again. Something a bit smug about it all. Grant Ford

Midas (Virgin) Ford is Virgin New Zealand’s first local signing but he doesn’t sound particularly indigenous. He warbles his way through a shinily produced song that doesn’t really seem to touch the sides on its way past. The flip is a cover of the Eagles’ Wasted Time’, which might well sum up Mr Ford’s effort in recording it, no matter how competent his delivery. Ritchie Pickett and the Inlaws In the Arms Of Mary (RCA) And all the good things I’ve heard about Mr Pickett go out the window on hearing this undistinguished cover of the Sutherland Brothers’ song. Ray Columbus’ flabby production doesn't help and does still less for Pickett’s own 'Sonata Pathetique’, which is probably quite a good song live. How was it the Topp

Twins put it? Suburban and Western? Kairo Day After Day (Jayrem) Kairo hail from Rotorua, where they own their own nightclub, Tudor Towers. This record is as smooth and amiably bland as you’d expect. So amiable, in fact, that it’s hard to get annoyed by it. Hard to get excited too, although the flip ‘Feels So Good' comes a little closer. The Fall Oh! Brother (Beggar’s Banquet) Happy Fall guys lend legitimacy to fabricated production techniques? Smith in semi-major label bid for technostardom? Mark “E” looks back over shoulder at those with their back to him? Jolly Mancunian humour? Smith works backwards towards lapsed churchism? Big 30.5 cm profit? "Spector at session” rumours deliberately profligated? All, some or none, but this is a Fall single that bears its own 12" mix. 'Oh! Brother’ takes a little while to infect but once it does it’s a cracker. Brix Smith, who as yet doesn’t seem to be the Linda McCartney of the backs to the audience scene, even gets to play a little gratuitous Yankee R&R guitar at the start of the 12" version. 'God Box’ is sinister stuff to end the record with. How long can CBS keep all those copies of the ageing Perverted By Language LP from a hungry public? Russell Brown