MELOMANIA gives you a bite-size start to the new music offerings
Like those old Johnny Carson stills they would switch to while in commercial break - "More To Come."
TEMPS - PARTY GATOR PURGATORY [LP/CD](Bella Union/AMPED)
Experimental Hip-Hop receives a real shot in the arm from this 40-member-strong project that combines cutting-edge rhymers with musicians from all over the world who wish to defy any and all genre trappings. Whether a failed TV documentary inspired it or it was pieced together to distract during the lockdown, James Acaster’s assembly of artists with ideas rips apart at its center (witness the uncomfortable weirdness of “kept” masterfully segueing into the anthem “partygatorR.I.P.”) and then convinces you that you are about to have as much of a blast as they did making it. For example, a track like “ificouldjust” is meant to carry the feel of time expanding as you listen. Yoni Wolf of WHY? and his twisting words hands the baton off to Shamir who raps uncharacteristically with the rapidity of the snare drums. However, the backdrop is almost meditative and serene, until those two run out of rhymes and then the cadre of vocalists enter to push it higher until it spirals around its hypnotic World Music loop. “no no” and “partygatorresurrection” even go so far as to wrap their joyous bedded looping around bookended parts that indicate there was still so much more greatness left on the cutting room floor. “Party Gator Purgatory” may have been envisioned as a one-off or the ultimate burst of a volcano of ideas. However, the real potential is in how freeing this must have been for all involved who now are able to fully follow their own inspirations.
LISTENING JOURNAL for the week
DICTATORS - Go Girl Crazy!/Manifest Destiny/Blood Brothers
Pity the poor Dictators. Even though they chose the biggest guitar sound (Ross The Boss) and the biggest personality frontperson (Handsome Dick Manitoba,) they simply do not move the needle today on the meter as so many of their NYC mid-Seventies contemporaries. March 1975’s “Go Girl Crazy!” predates skillful Sixties covers cast in their own light pre-Blondie (a sincere but rockin’ “I Got You Babe”) while beating the Ramones to Joe Jones’ “California Sun.” The proto-punk cowbell slam of “The Next Big Thing” and the spun-gold silliness of “Teengenerate” would still fit into the still-to-be-released debut from Blondie, instrumentals from Patti Smith’s band, and even the film version of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” When it winds up with “Weekend” and their first immortal single “(I Live For) Cars and Girls,” Andy Shernoff’s formula for Proto-Punk Power Pop seems to be perfected. However, “Go Girl Crazy!” failed to sell and the band split up.
Over the next two years, everyone in Punk and beyond catches up with the reunited Dictators and 1977’s underrated “Manifest Destiny” sounds like post-New York Dolls Rock shined up with Blue Oyster Cult sheen (with good reason as all three albums were produced by BOC’s producer team Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman.) While listening, it was toughest to figure out just why so many critics were so disappointed. Shernoff’s writing is more streamlined and makes more melodic sense (the up-and-down chorus of the opener “Exposed” pairs well with Ross The Boss’s flash.) “Disease” rides the line between parody and sincerity even though it tries too hard to be both BOC and a mini-epic like the Dolls’ “Stranded In The Jungle,” while Shernoff’s specialty ballad “Hey Boys” also blossoms into a showcase. Fortunately, “Manifest Destiny” ends with what should have been their stadium closing triptych, “Science Has Gone Too Far,” “Young, Fast, Scientific” and a blazing version of “Search and Destroy.” Just like a magic spell - can’t you tell?
1978’s “Bloodbrothers” is clearly where someone told them they either needed a hit or fall in line with the Punk style that was suddenly ubiquitous. “Faster and Louder” and “Baby Let’s Twist” (with Bruce Springsteen helping count) were finely tuned for AOR radio. “Faster” is the most muscular Dictators single yet - but not Punk. “Baby Let’s Twist” is more Shernoff-style Power Pop in tune with both the dominance of The Cars on the radio and the tough but direct thrust of “Go Girl Crazy!” With a much more muscular sound, Manitoba sings them all and Shernoff’s range is missed. “The Minnesota Strip” has a mean bridge on it - that begs for howling and real vocal push. However, Manitoba’s barking words leave the song almost too black and white. “Borneo Jimmy” veers almost too close to KISS-ish riffage, and “Stay With Me” boasts yet another sparkling post-chorus guitar riff. However, the vocal melody strays a little too close to Blondie’s “X Offender” and not the red-hot Dolls girl group/proto-punk crunch they were after. While the pumped-up cover of the Flamin’ Groovies’ “Slow Death” is a mismatch, those pull-offs on the chorus and the extended Stooges-ian solo are a genius-level addition to an immortal single. When the single for “Baby Let’s Twist” finally earned the band radio airplay on the East Coast, that proved to be their last gasp/grasp in this early incarnation.
Over three albums, The Dictators clearly tried to prove they could fit in by simply not trying to. The junk culture/wise-ass attitude of their debut would unknowingly spread to others. While “Manifest Destiny” feels like an all-around showcase for trying to be included, its continuous enjoyment hinges on its steadfast refusal to be commercial and instead blindly rock.
We sincerely hope that this was time well spent. We thank you for reading, listening, subscribing, and most of all supporting the artists listed here. Thank you.
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