"Laser beam
coming through the night, to my TV screen,
to my color eye."
This EP contains tracks that would later appear on their 1982 self-titled debut LP 'A Flock of Seagulls.' The track 'Tanglimara' is unique to this EP, however.
I find the band's music overall to be pleasant, if somewhat unengaging. But I suppose that 's the point- cold, expansive soundscapes filled with laser-filled smoke clouds where time has no meaning.
I love the bright dreamy colors on the sleeve and how jarringly inappropriate they are to the nightmarish image. Scenes this disturbing should be shunned to a twilight world...
The Expressos were a Rather low-energy rock band that fall under the 'New Wave' monicker due more to timing than any actual progressive musical aesthetic. At least in retrospect. Maybe if you were there back in the day this stuff would seem a little more radical and dangerous? Supposedly Elvis Costello was a big fan...
To my ear though their sound has a 60s retro feel to it, rather stereotypical of bands of this period/locale. 'Kiss You all Over' lacks that patina however, coming off more as standard rock ala Pat Benatar.
It's not bad stuff actually, but comes across as rather tame and conservative when you consider all of the cutting edge music that was going on around them. I'll coin a term here and call it 'Safe Wave.'
A tour around the internets dredges up scant information other than they have a small but enthusiastic fan base. I'd consider myself fairly well-versed in female-lead groups of the period, but other than their name I knew next to nothing about them before researching this single.
It's a bit murky, but it appears that guitarist Mick Toldi formed PIL (Public Image Limited) with Keith Levine (The Clash), bringing the fresh ex-Pistol John Lydon into the fold. Jah Wobble fits in there somewhere as well. At least as Toldi tells it. He left the band (at Rotten's request) before any material was released.
Upon leaving PIL Toldi met Rozzi Rayner, the soon-to-be lead singer of the Expressos...
The band were signed to WEA soon after, but although they toured with the likes of The Jam and Squeeze and bumped shoulders with contemporaries such as Bananarama,The Boomtown Rats, and other up-and-comers, they failed to find lasting public interest or financial success. The band split in 1981.*
The late 80's band 'Escape Club' (known for their song 'Wild Wild West') included The Expressos' former bassist Johnnie Christo.
Mick Toldi died of a brain tumor in April of 2011.
Vocalist Rozzi Rayner's whereabouts are unknown. It appears that she did not continue a music career after the band's breakup.
Regarding the package- I must say I quite like the sleeve. The shocking red/green design pops and, paired with classic DIY collage artwork, really makes a dramatic in-your face impression. Pity the sounds on the disc don't live up to the promise...
*See this link for the raw story, straight from the horse's mouth. For now I'll leave the info as 'anecdotal', but fascinating-Mike Toldi reminisces
Here's a weird one, I've never seen
anything quite like it.
In the sleeve is your standard 7" vinyl record.
The sleeve itself is that thicker cardboard-type you see with British
7" sleeves of this period... except it has a flexi disc GLUED onto the
front. And a hole that goes all the way through the sleeve so you can
put the whole affair on your turntable and play it. I haven't tried it
yet, but I'm guessing it won't play very well due to the uneven weight.
A+ for creative packaging though!
Wiki has this to say about the
flexi- 'To help promote the band's Talk Talk Talk album, the UK single
for "Dumb Waiters" was packaged in an embossed plastic sleeve, playable
at 33-1/3 rpm on a turntable, which contains a track with excerpts from
the songs "Into You Like a Train", "I Wanna Sleep With You" and "Pretty
in Pink". Singer Richard Butler opens the track by saying "This is a
Psychedelic Furs commercial. Buy Talk Talk Talk".'
This is album was basically made over a deal consisting of
several blowjobs and a handshake. Look it up.
I think it's safe to say that this album is in
no danger of getting heavy rotation on my turntable. From what little I've subjected myself to I've found the sound to be rather flat. Deadpan crooner stuff. I'm not sure
if it's supposed to be 'ironic'... but it sure doesn't come off that way.
That
being said, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I bought this. I
had eyed it online and even bookmarked it for later consideration, but I
just couldn't pull the trigger when the cost was $10ish after shipping.
But for $3 I'm in.
Why? Foley is backed by The Clash on all songs. The
album was recorded right after The Clash's 'Sandinista!' with the same
musicians and engineers. Foley was dating Clash guitarist Mick Jones at
the time of its production.
The cover art is unremarkable. Looks like they were going for a mainstream early 80s classic rock look ala Fleetwood Mac.
For some reason Germany felt the need to reinvent the wheel. Badly.
I
picked this one up just 'cause I thought it was a cool variant. The art
design is crude and near-bootleg in quality. What a naive and
inappropriate font choice- it's so huge and smushed together! But that's
part of the charm IMO.
Not too much to say about this one really.
Wiki lists the US and international versions of 'Best of Blondie,' but
does not list this album. The US and international versions have
different track orders, and the international has two more tracks than
the US version. This German version is identical to the US version...
except they switched out one track. Weird, why bother?
Comparison of US (left) and German (right) compilations
Bush Tertras were (and are) a NYC New Wave
band with ties to the No Wave scene. Typical of bands from New York,
they tend to just do their own thing- chart success be damned.
My wife and I had a brief working relationship with the band and their
associated label (RIOR) a few years ago when we had the honor of
designing the vinyl album art for their 'Boom in the Night' LP, which
was previously only available on CD. They gave us pretty much free reign
to do what we wanted. I went back to their early art style and classic logo/typeface (as per today's entry; they had
dropped this iconic style and went with something more bland with the older design) for
inspiration. This was also just post 9/11 so I wanted something edgy to
go along with the title and reflect their urban sound.
But I digress... the art seen here on 'Boom' reflects their rather dark
urban funky sound, with a tinge of the tribal/dub championed so well by
other groups such as The Slits and New age Steppers.
