Records

Rip It Up, Issue 75, 1 October 1983, Page 26

Records

Tracey Thorne A Distant Shore Cherry Red A distant shore. You're sitting on a bare beach under a winter grey sky. The holiday township behind you is in narrow hibernation, the people won't bother you. The odd flash of colour from a piece of festive litter echoes the hues and bustle of summer, laughter, crowds ... and that boy/girl. You're lonely, but there's a beauty in the solitude. That's the feel and Trace} Thorne doesn't stray far from it Eight wistful, retrospective songs, all with the same dreamy vocals and slightly edgy acoustic guitar. The standard of the lyrics is high at least a couple of lines in each song strike home, if softly. They're mostly about relationships, sad but not desolate. If this all sounds a bit like Leonard Cohen then perhaps you're twigging something. The cover of the Velvet Underground's 'Femme Fatale' is surprisingly good - certainly much better than Thome's sometime

band the Marine Girls' (she is also half of Everything But the Girl) dreary rendition of 'Fever'. This record displays more cohesion and purpose than Marine Girls recordings, in fact, Thorne has defined herself almost too well. The image holds for an album's length but whether it will escape repetition and self-parody in future remains to be seen. As for the record, it's sad, soft and beautiful and I listen to it alone. It almost makes you wish for a broken heart. ■• Russell Brown Various Artists . Voices of the Angels Freeway Records ;' It's a good idea to document the city in poems, etc. It's a worthy project but by the sounds of this two-hour marathon spoken word collage, LA's a fucking disturbing city. With some exceptions, these people sound bland and hollow but. what else would ya expect? Here's a poem for ya:|jj9HmfiSßfl Self-infatuated white boys . Thrust their erect egos into echo chambers Riding the sperm-drenched surf From Malibu to San Fernando Valley Short-term memories frying in the heat .

Of acidic yesterdays While clones of 'Beefheart" Growl like naugahyde blaaaack men And barbed-wire dolls Bath on vinyl bar stools :.:>' ..;, I wrote that! Wow man! And I ain't even been to LA. But I heard the rekkid maaaan. An' you can too. Write to Harvey Kubernik, c/- Freeway Records, Box 679300, LA, California, 90067, USA. If ya wanna bask under the black sun with poetry drizzling out ya gills. Chris Knox AC/DC Flick of the Switch Alberts Whilst never reaching the classic status of Back in Black, this selfproduced album still delivers in no uncertain terms. No frills, hard as nails, AC/DC prove they still have it over virtually all comers in quality skull-crushing rock. Like Texans ZZ Top, AC/DC have developed an awesome and rewarding understanding of pace and power. Brian Johnson's screaming, vocals and Angus Young's ringing guitar are throughout underpinned by the peerless Rudd/Williams engine room to create an album that starts hesitantly on both sides and builds to two frenzied rockers in

'Landslide' and "Brain Shake', their fastest numbers since TNTs Tm A Rocker'. . -Highlights include'the title track and the , magnificent "Nervous Shakedown', which ranks with the very best of AC/DC's output. So, yet another great AC/DC album. PLAY IT LOUD! Chris Caddick The Coconuts Don't Take My Coconuts EMI The sun on your shoulder. The Coconuts on the stereo. Tap your toes, and think about going to the beach. Close your eyes and reach for the champagne. Damn it's flat, just like the record. The Coconuts : step out from behind Kid Creole on this set. August doesn't let them get too far though, producing, writing half the songs and taking lead vocal on the title track. The music is pretty much the Ha Cha Cha style we got down to with Tropical Gangsters this time last year. Except where that cocktail mix produced nectarine daiquiris like Stool Pigeon' this latest effort is generally warm beer. This is goodtime music, as light as a summer breeze. The three Coconuts obviously enjoy themselves especially on the pseudo-

German decadence numbers where they get to coo in with a huge, and I mean big, orchestra known as Pond Life. - If you're looking to summerise your record collection this could be a start. But Mr Darnell should really spend less time out in the sun himself if he wants anything more than a languid response in future. Mark Everton Paul Carrack Suburban Voodoo Epic With this Nick Lowe-produced album, keyboard player and singer Carrack (singer with Ace and Squeeze, keyboards for Roxy Music and others) has handed down an impressive debut. Its potent mixture of pop and R&B is a clever updating of the Motown sound. There'are few direct steals from that source - rather, the stylistic debt is in the details: the handclaps, the gospel piano playing, the song structures and the witty, lyrics which echo Stanley Robinson. .'.' The album's only major failing is in its thinness, both in sound and intent. Not only has Lowe reduced Carrack's voice to a reedy squeak rather than the fullthroated instrument it is, but there is no performance as moving as the one Carrack achieved on Squeeze's Tempted'. Still, this is the strongest British R&B in some time and a worthy follow-on from Elvis, Nick and Graham. Alastair Dougal