ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK A RAMA

RECORDS

This month�s Rock-a-Ramas were written by Richard Riegel, Richard C. Walls, Michael Davis and Rick Johnson.

A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS (Jive/Arista):: Electronic? You bet �lectronic! But I�m still not sure whether this is a different group than Our Daughter�s Wedding, as terminal interchangability seem to have set in among the synth crowd. Most likely you heard these catchy machine rhythms in Kraftwerk years ago, too bad A.F.O.S. didn�t cop those Kraut�s dry-ice wit while they were at it. Instead, we get yet another covey of smug ioe-are-the-artists types, out to wow the alienated with hip dirges. Distinguishing marks, in case you�re still interested in waterfowl-spotting: These gulls are even funnier looking than they already think they so cleverly are! R.R.

SONNY ROLLINS -* No Problem (Milestone) :: All of Rollins�s albums during the past decade have been, in varying degrees, disappointing, particularly to those familiar with his earlier work, and this one�s no exception. But it�s a little better than most with its cheeky covers (Dolly Parton�s hit �Here You Come Again� and �Illusions,� which Marlene Dietrich sang in Billy Wilder�s Foreign Affair [�48]), ace contributions by vibist Bobby Hutcherson and drummer Tony Williams, and Rollins� idiosyncratic thwarting of his own efforts to sell out. Even if his current lusty tones isn�t always convincing and there�s too many long stretches where the band just coasts over the potentially commercial rhythms, still, you gotta hand it to the man for not going all out and cashing in on his recent Stones affiliation by making some cornball rock/funk/ jazz/fusion thing—instead he goes on his merry way, trying to relate to popular forms with his improvisational integrity intact and occasionally succeeding. Not bad. R.C.W.

LEVON HELM (Capitol):: Since most of the songs Helm sang with the Band portrayed him as a cantankerous old coot, it makes sense that the passage of time hasn�t affected his believability a,whole lot. Still, this is his first post-Band record to really catch my ear and though I can�t fault his whiskey-soaked vocals or the Muscle Shoals backing, I suspect it�s the material—the best batch of tunes he�s had to sink his choppers into since Robbie Robertson�s heyday—that puts this project over the top. M.D.

DA—Time Will Be Kind (Autumn EP):: Modern-as-today coed pop from up Chicago way, Lorna Donley�s lyrics may have certain college-lit-mag overtones, but meanwhile all the guitar and bass lines ar6 angular, jolting, (& thus comforting) in their nonstop muscularity. Anorexorock anxieties (�I�ve been eating �Next To Nothing� �), mixed with echoed screams from a Catholic adolescence. Being new to the shit of life don�t make it any easier for Da�s youngsters to take. But I�ll translate their name from Russkie, and give this record a big �Yes!� R.R.

STEVE KUHN QUARTET-Last Year's Waltz (ECM):: Would you believe me if I told you that this live recording was one of the best jazz releases of the past year? The reason I ask is because its unmoddish virtues might not seem all that exceptional on a first casual hearing— but trust me, this one gets better each time you listen. And not just the set pieces, the tour-deforce �I Remember You� and the medley which joins �Old Folks� with a sardonic Monk tribute and the bebop anthem �Confirmation,� but all of it, with Sheila Jordan�s sexy and imperfect vocals and pianist Kuhn�s impressionistic chops and hard swinging combined with his propensity toward uninhibited climaxes making for an exhilarating set. Honest. R.C.W.

JOOLS HOLLAND AND HIS MILLIONAIRES (I.R.S.):: Jools was always my main Squeeze among the group of the same name, precisely for the wonderful sounds he could slap out of his punchdrunk Farfisa. So it kinda figures that now that I get Jools all to his solo self, he devotes his whole debut LP to pounding a boogie-woogie pianner. If you say so, but Holland also sings like a theoretical barroom bloozer on this set, in a thin, squeaky, underwater voice that�s hot causing Georgie Fame to lose any sleep, but which is also rather compelling, once you accept the rash absurdity of the whole premise. Fact, this album may be the most fun I�ve had in this whole month�s listening, I guess you could do worse than Jools� cheerful barrelhouse fatalism in these perverse times.

R.R.

VARIOUS ARTISTS—APPRENTICE DANCE (Sounds Interesting)— Anthology from Poole Dorset, UK, includes significantly bizarre English surf outfits Da Biz and Surfin� Dave. Dave—who sounds like a drunk DJ playing very, very early Beach Boys through a conch woofer—represents a genuine evolutionary dead end. Kind of Cockney Rebels go Hawaiian. (P.O. Box 54, Stone Harbor, NJ 08247) R.J.