Records

Rip It Up, Issue 21, 1 April 1979, Page 9

Records

The Rubinoos

Beserkley

Yes, Rubinoos is a funny name, but so's Beatles. So’s everything. This kind of record has been a pretty rare thing in the seventies -buoyant, fun, meticulously crafted pop rock -for what was once a live-and-kicking genre of mainstream rock'n’roll was beginning to take on the aspect of a curio from another time. Something that could still be fully enjoyable and affecting due to the inherent beauty and strength of the form and the commitment brought to it, while remaining a slightly used-to-be kind of thing. Most of the bands working this mine in the last eight or nine years, The Raspberries, Stories, Big Star, Badfinger, Dwight Twilley etc, incorporate varying degrees of deja-vu for its own sake amongst the normal weave of influences in their music, but these bands have produced some of my favourite albums of all time, so I guess it doesn’t bother me much.

If it doesn’t bother you, and you think that Tommy James’s “I Think We’re Alone Now”- is better than anything Led Zeppelin ever did, then you’re gonna like this record,The Rubinoos. They do the Tommy James song and they touch a lot of other bases like The Coasters and The Grass Roots. It’s on the Beserkley label, same as Jonathan Richman, Earthquake and Greg Kihn (nice label!) and it was first released in 77. These guys are pretty young and they know what they’re doing. Terence Hogan

The Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers Live Beserkley

If you’re looking for a cult band to impress your friends with (you know, the band too good to make it big) you could not do better than Jonathon Richman and the Modern Lovers. These two albums, the debut from 1976 and the live album from 1977, are simply brimming with eccentric brilliance and wacky charm. Be warned though, the operative words are 'eccentric’ and ‘wacky.’ Richman began his career, musically speaking, as a neurotic American teenager badly hung up on Velvet Underground. Consequently the influence of Lou Reed permeates most of the first album. Nevertheless Richman’s touching naivety and refreshingly crisp guitar playing made the set uniquely his own. The Modern Lovers boasts such offbeat classics as "Roadrunner”, “Pablo Picasso" and the hands down winner in the bizarre love song stakes, “Hospital.” By the time of the live album Lou Reed was merely a skeleton in the closet. Instead Richman gave full rein to his child-like innocence and whimsy. Thus were born gems like “I’m A Little Dinosaur", "Hey There, Little Insect” and “Egyptian Reggae”. Even if you 'can’t believe he’s for real (I have my doubts) there is no way the songs are throwaways. Richman and sideman Leroy Radcliffe have developed a delightful Shadows-style guitar sound and their harmonies can’t be faulted. So, if you like your brilliance completely off the wall The Modern Lovers are for you. Maybe all that is said about the line between genius and insanity being a thin one. is true after all. Dominic Free Greg Kihn Again Next of Kihn Beserkley Oh, more Beserkley stuff, good! I’ve had Next Of Kihn for a little while now and I. especially like Side ; Two. "Secret Meetings” is a beautifully played and untypically heavy trace, and the first two songs “Sorry” and "Everybody Else” have a mature pop/rock feel that calls to mind Kihn’s own comments on his music - "We’re coming from a known area of rock'n'roll, the Byrds, ; Buddy Holly etc". There is strong evidence of both those influences on these two records, with Next of Kihn to my mind having a richer sound and more fully realized and satisfying style. But then I’m much more familiar with it, and after just a couple of playings Greg Kihn Again looks like it'll be a good record to have around too.” The same band features on each album and the increased sureness of the ensemble playing in the later one is quite noticeable, they're sounding like a real band and one that I’d go a long way to see play. Fat chance. ~ ’. It’s getting late and this review is really boring, but that mustn’t reflect on these records. Greg Kihn is a highly enjoyable and interesting talent that you’d do well to check out. It’s neat that this stuff is finally getting released here. Terence Hogan