CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE

CHRISTGAU CONSUMER GUIDE

by

Robert Christgau

BOBBY BLAND: “I Feel Good, I Feel Fine” (MCA 79):: Then you must be on something—you don’t even get to sing on that track. C-

JOHN CALE: “Sabotage / Live” (Spy/ I.R.S. 79) :: “Military intelligence isn’t what it Used to be,” Cale intones on a title cut replete with slash and yowl. “So What—human intelligence isn’t what it used to be either.” Speak for yourself, John. This material, based in part on Cale’srecent inquiries into foreign affairs, is fairly strong in a geocynical way that’s a lot newer to rock than it is to human discourse in general. But the live recording, while no doubt economical, gets less slash than flash out of Marc Aaron’s guitar and not enough singing .put of Cale. And “Captain Hook,” the dumbest song here, goes on for 11:26. B

MARSHALL CHAPBIAN: “Marshall” (Epic 79):: This declared “rock and roll girl” is a lot more confident, clever, and animated than such Northern counterparts as Ejlen Foley and Ellen Shipley, but she’s a fairly one-dimensional conservative compared to Pearl E. Gates or Chrissie Hynde. Not only does she never question what she wants, which I guess is okay, but she still equates rock and roll itself with liberation, which isn’t. The reason it isn’t is illustrated by her band, who reprise old boogie licks as if they’re expressing themselves"!' B

THE CONTORTIONS: “Buy the Contortions” (ZE 79) :: Bohemias are always beset by neurotics who hawk their obnoxious afflictions as if they’re the future of the species, which is why in theory James White’s music is better without the words: You get the jagged rhythms and tonic offharmonies without being distracted by his “ideas.” But in fact the music is so (deliberately) stunted that it needs a voice for sonic muscle, and James’s lyrics do have a certain petty honesty and jerkoff h umor. “I Don’t Want To Be Happy” should separate the believers from the spectators quite nicely. Time: 29:47. B +

JOE JACKSON: “I’m the Man” (A&M 79) :: Oh yeah? Then get the knack bacH. C +

FREDDIE J ABIES: “Get Up and Boogie” (Warner Bros. ’79):: Just what you’ve been waitingfor, I’m sur^—another soprano crooning over another cleverly entitled dance track. And coming up next, oh my god, it’s “Crazy Disco Music.” Think it might help if the singer were male? Well, it does, quite a bit—very cute, very unusual. In fact, since he’s already 14, very very unusual— his soprano days are numbered. Next step, he says, is to go to “Hollywood,” where they’ll tell him to “Dance Little' Boy Blue.” Don’t put your advance on it, kid. B-

M: “Pop Muzik” (Sire 79) s: Not only did the single break the new wave/disco barrier, it packed an instant wallop worthy of its title—you could hear it explode up the charts from moment of impact. All that’s audible here is Robin Scott straining to duplicate that light-hearted, worldly-wise eclecticism and exposing himself as a hopeless dile ttante in the process. C

MADNESS: “bne Step Beyond...” (Sire) :: we have entered the era of the white drummer —suddenly every young rock and roll band that strikes vinyl can generate a moderately exciting pulse. But moderately exciting is all this is. It’s as if the Kingsmen knew that the way to fame arid fortune was to add some local color stories from the Portland bars to their repertoire of borrowed licks and melodies. Fun, don’t get me wrong, and I like a couple of sketches—“My Girl” and “Mummy’s Boy”—very much. Entertaining on stage, too. But I can wait until somebody else puts this on the turntable. B

CAROLYNE BIAS (Mercury 79):: Mas is one of those folksingers who likes “good” rock and roll so much that she feels honored to Contribute kitsch poetry like “Snow” and kitsch pop like “Do You Belie ve I Love You” to the genre. So I was surprised -to find myself enjoying four of these songs and getting off on two, “Sadie Says” and “Quote Goodbye Quote.” Only you know what? Her guitarist, David Landau, turns out to have co-composing credits on three songs here, and th.ey just happen to be my favorites. Wonder how ,he sings. B-

PEARL HARBOR AND THE EXPLOSSIONS (Warner Bros. 79):: A rhythm band ought to have a better rhythm section—most of this rocks okay for DOR, but the funk beneath ,“Geta Grip on Yourself,” for instance, is stiff to no purpose. The riffs are( hooky, though, and Pearl E. Gates is an independent—not to say insular—woman who knows what her habits cost. There are no tears on her pillow and she doesn’t care if your aim is true, but she doesn’t waste her energy on macha bluster, either— prefers the cutting remark arid isn’t above turning her wit on herself. Which does not mean she has any intention of “Ref ormin g. ” B +

PRETENDERS (Sire 79):: Tdugh gals, tough gals—suddenly the world is teeming with tough gals. And Chrissie Hynde is a good one. Maybe not all of her songs are championship singles, but she’s got more to offer emotionally and musicaDy (and sexually) than any of the competition, unless Patti counts. She’s out for herself but she gives of herself as well; when she alternates between rapacity and tenderness you don’t feel she’s acting coy or fucked up, although she may be. And she conveys these changes With her voice as well as with her terse, slangy, suggestive lyrics. James Honeyman Scott’s terse, slangy, suggestive guitarsteals don’t hurt either. A*

SMOKEY ROBINSON: “Where There’s Smoke...” (Tamla 79):: Most of Smokey’s finest solo album is in the sexy do-the-rock mode of his biggest sob hit, “Cruisin’.” Motown puristscome-lat^l$ will no doubt be miffed at the snappy discoficafion of “Get Ready” which opens the “Cruisin’ ” side. But what cavils will they level at the new songs on side one, which modernize the man’s concise, smouldering romanticism with a flair that seemed bst to him years ago? Never count a soul man out—never. Acount a soul man out—never. A-

D1ANA ROSS: “The Boas” (Motown 79) :: In which El Supremo passes a crash course at the Ashford P. Simpson School of Total Adult fulfillment, although not with A’s. It’s her house, she wants your good lovin’ once in the morning and once in the evening, she’ll cooperate and be glad, and she shall survive, because she’s the boss. Quite smart, quite sexy, but sometimes dull —it doesn’t do much for A&S’s crash material that there’s only one singer. B

SANTANA: Marathon (Columbia 79) :: In their selfless pursuit of universality they’ve signed on a second Eddie Money graduate and replaced Greg Walker, their finest vocalist, with a Scot named Alexander J. Ligertwood, who proves his internationalism by aping that eternal foreigner Lou Gramm. Odd, you can hardly hear the congas. 4 C

THE SPECIALS (Chrysalis):: It takes bnger than you’d figure for their jingles to get across because the sound, especiaOy the vocal sound, is just too thin to make itself felt from the outset (compare their “Monkey Man” to Toots’s if you dare). I like* their commercial messages, though—promote racial harmony, use contraceptives. B +

SYLVAIN SYLVA1N (RCA Victor):: “Teenage News” has been a great one ever since Syl introduced it with the Dolls. “What’s That Got To Dow With Rock ’n’ Roll?” is a pretty good one. And that’s as many songs as this bom sideman should eversing in half an hour—though since he was born a sideman, it’s more than he ever got. Time: 29:57. C

TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS: “Pass The Pipe” (Mango 79):: This isn’t as, wefl-crafted song for song as Toots’s last American release, Reggae Got Soul, but because it doesn’t assume that “soul” equals U.S. success it’s a lot less confused, and I like it more. The music’s momentum is unimpeded by bad faith, and the three compositions thatdo standout—especially “Famine,” as amazing a juxtaposition of horror and good cheer as Jimmy Cliff’s “Viet Nam”—sound like great ones. B +

THE UNDERTONES (Sire ’79) :: Nice lads, nice lads—suddenly the world is teeming with nice lads. I tike their punky speed and adolescent authenticity, but I’d prefer the reverse, because among adolescents these days the speed takes care of itself, while finding something besides teendom to write about presents problems. Though I enjoy most of side one and a little of side two, not one track is so great that I need it. And neither do you. I don’t think. B

JAMES WHITE AND THE BLACKS: “Off White” (ZE 79):: This is pretty good to dance to, but like so much disco music it gets tedious over a whole side. And the chick singer—probably somebody’s girlfriend—certainly doesn’t help. B-

WIRE: 154 (Warner Bros. 79) :: Predictions that these art schoolers would turn into art-rockers no longer seem so cynical. Their gift for the horrifying vignette remains. But their tempos are slowing, sometimes to a crawl, as their textures venture toward the orchestral, and neither effect enhances the power of their vignettes, which become every more personalistic and/or abstract. B

Reprint courtesy The Village Voice.