GornikDaze
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The Album Review Club - Week #120 - (page 1413) - The Lexicon of Love - ABC
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
I don't have anything clever to say about this. Pretty far up my street. Overlooked and missed on. Good one to be exposed to and enjoyed a lot. Yeah, a fair few songs blead into each other. But that's ok when you like it. I find them believable and there is an apparent honesty there. Good bass carries it. A solid 7.5.
threespires
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Initially I couldn't decide if it was too polite for it's own good but it has grown on me as in fact has TV Smith after finding out a bit about him. From a cursory whizz round his back catalogue it feels like he should be much better known than he is, He's been knocking out albums every few years, last one 2020, and he seems to have a small but loyal following when he does his one man and his guitar shows.
I watched a BBC Four documentary from a few years back on him and The Adverts, it's on YT so not great quality but nonetheless pretty enjoyable. Though his music has less edges to it than you might assume, his attitude seems properly punk in the truest sense of the word.
As for the nomination, it's pretty intelligent without being po-faced, in fact it's quite amusing at times but whilst still managing to retain a healthy contempt of the status quo, which as far as I can tell he's retained into later years. Liked the opening three songs, GGE obviously and also No Time.., Drowning Man and the Great British Mistake was a good finish (and quite prescient!). Occasionally it felt a bit samey or one paced but that's hardly the crime of the century.
As per a couple of others this has also been a fun trip back to a few other bands I'd forgotten about.
Probably the greatest compliment I would pay it is that though different to both and not quite in the same league as far as I'm concerned, it really is not embarrassed in the great company of The Clash or The Jam that @journolud mentioned in his original view.
A solid 7/10 for me.
I watched a BBC Four documentary from a few years back on him and The Adverts, it's on YT so not great quality but nonetheless pretty enjoyable. Though his music has less edges to it than you might assume, his attitude seems properly punk in the truest sense of the word.
As for the nomination, it's pretty intelligent without being po-faced, in fact it's quite amusing at times but whilst still managing to retain a healthy contempt of the status quo, which as far as I can tell he's retained into later years. Liked the opening three songs, GGE obviously and also No Time.., Drowning Man and the Great British Mistake was a good finish (and quite prescient!). Occasionally it felt a bit samey or one paced but that's hardly the crime of the century.
As per a couple of others this has also been a fun trip back to a few other bands I'd forgotten about.
Probably the greatest compliment I would pay it is that though different to both and not quite in the same league as far as I'm concerned, it really is not embarrassed in the great company of The Clash or The Jam that @journolud mentioned in his original view.
A solid 7/10 for me.
FogBlueInSanFran
Well-Known Member
About to hop a flight to lovely Nashville, and @RobMCFC will handle my contribution, but I actually enjoyed this quite a lot. I'll try to write more later but to get a score in I will say a very solid 7/10, with a particular highlight being the opener (I have always loved self-referential songs about music, especially when they are self-deprecating).
Nothing fancy.I owed this back in the day but i have not listened to it since the 80's.
Probably this pick has made me listen to more groups in the same time zone more than any other.
So for that an extra point. 8.
Probably this pick has made me listen to more groups in the same time zone more than any other.
So for that an extra point. 8.
OB1
Well-Known Member
Adverts.
6/10.
6/10.
Yet another new one on me (save for the ubiquitous GGE) album. As I think in my sheltered upbringing on the Wirral punk wasnt really a regular thing in the household. the old man favouring a bit of Sonny Rawlins, Connonball Adderley and my mother being more Steeleye Span....a far cry from punk
On first listen through I wasnt overly impressed and did think that many of the tracks merged into one, but with a nother few listens I started to appreciate them abit more. The whole thing of punk came through, that anyone can do it and that there was an energy and naivety about it....but it was very good.
The first 3 tracks were excellent. That great crashing first chord bringing the drive and energy, although when listening to "Bored Teenagers" I couldnt help but imaging Ben Elton/Nozin' Aroun' from the Young Ones. "On The Roof" & "Newboys", were pretty standard fare and then it came to the standout track and the one that I think everyone muct have heard previously. After forcing my son to listen to the album in the car, he did say that he thought it (GGE) was the stand out track and perhaps the only one he would listen to again.
Alas, then came what I thought was the weakest on the album, "Bombsite Boy". certainly one I think could have been dropped from this. That and "On Wheels" being my least favourites.
I also thought that I heard other more modenr bands in a few of the tracks, sort of Arctic Monkeys guitar in "New Day Dawns" and in "Drowning Men" couldnt quite put my finger on who it sounded like. The album finishing with another good song in "Greta British Mistake".
It certainly made me think about some of the more polished offering recently, Muse, Stones etc but thought that the excitement and energy of it made this of secondary importance.
Very enjoyable few listens and making me glad I have partaken of this thread once again.
Its going to be a 7.5 from the Derry jury
On first listen through I wasnt overly impressed and did think that many of the tracks merged into one, but with a nother few listens I started to appreciate them abit more. The whole thing of punk came through, that anyone can do it and that there was an energy and naivety about it....but it was very good.
The first 3 tracks were excellent. That great crashing first chord bringing the drive and energy, although when listening to "Bored Teenagers" I couldnt help but imaging Ben Elton/Nozin' Aroun' from the Young Ones. "On The Roof" & "Newboys", were pretty standard fare and then it came to the standout track and the one that I think everyone muct have heard previously. After forcing my son to listen to the album in the car, he did say that he thought it (GGE) was the stand out track and perhaps the only one he would listen to again.
Alas, then came what I thought was the weakest on the album, "Bombsite Boy". certainly one I think could have been dropped from this. That and "On Wheels" being my least favourites.
I also thought that I heard other more modenr bands in a few of the tracks, sort of Arctic Monkeys guitar in "New Day Dawns" and in "Drowning Men" couldnt quite put my finger on who it sounded like. The album finishing with another good song in "Greta British Mistake".
It certainly made me think about some of the more polished offering recently, Muse, Stones etc but thought that the excitement and energy of it made this of secondary importance.
Very enjoyable few listens and making me glad I have partaken of this thread once again.
Its going to be a 7.5 from the Derry jury
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
I was just on the cusp of punk. Too young to fully appreciate it, living in a small one road in/ out village as we were at the time, my music awakening probably arrived a couple of years later than 76. Punks were people you saw on the 6 o'clock news and punk music on the odd radio play and anyway, I had my bike to play on. With my mates.
Music in our house was either my Dads, at the time, unfathomable choices, Groundhogs, Slade, Floyd, Quo, mixed with Jazz, nice, or my Mums efforts...the Carpenters, Kings Singers, ABBA etc etc. A heady mix.
Listening back now, I have no rose tinted ears. No memories and no preconceptions. I didn't listen to the 'new' version of this with Gilmore chucked in for shits and dollars as that song has been played to death in my head over the years. The album then...
It's very one dimensional, which sometimes is not a bad thing, but does lead to a lot of songs bleeding into each other. I liked the singers voice. Not as raw as other offerings and quite tuneful at times. Thankfully short but in a good way. It's nice to have a blast of something different without it dragging on past it's sell by date.
It's an above average 6 from me.
Music in our house was either my Dads, at the time, unfathomable choices, Groundhogs, Slade, Floyd, Quo, mixed with Jazz, nice, or my Mums efforts...the Carpenters, Kings Singers, ABBA etc etc. A heady mix.
Listening back now, I have no rose tinted ears. No memories and no preconceptions. I didn't listen to the 'new' version of this with Gilmore chucked in for shits and dollars as that song has been played to death in my head over the years. The album then...
It's very one dimensional, which sometimes is not a bad thing, but does lead to a lot of songs bleeding into each other. I liked the singers voice. Not as raw as other offerings and quite tuneful at times. Thankfully short but in a good way. It's nice to have a blast of something different without it dragging on past it's sell by date.
It's an above average 6 from me.
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts
Like many here, punk wasn't my thing back in 1978 not even hitting my teens yet. It would probably be a couple more years until my middle school rock discovery age of Zeppelin/Yes/Rush/Van Halen, etc. So you'll understand that @journolud could have put up many clues and I likely wouldn't have come close to this band without Google's help.
This selection did require repeated listens as @LGWIO noted tonight. I realized the more I listened, the more I got out of each song. I too noticed that each song would be short and seem to run right into the next one, and if the sound was similar, I was questioning if I was on the same track or there was just a long pause in the song (as in "Bombsite Boy"). The music was catchy enough, so I did some more looking into the band members, and then I stumbled upon the secret sauce I was hearing, the bassist Gaye Advert, aka Gaye Black.
She and lead singer and guitarist Tim"T. V." Smith formed the band and appears to be the driving force behind these songs. Later married, wiki noted that Advert stopped playing bass when the Adverts disbanded and she disappeared from the British punk scene. She has said that she was "a bit disillusioned and worn out," and felt picked on by the press. A shame, as she really was a strong force on these songs.
The first song, as Foggy notes, is a hilarious self-depreciating number "One Chord Wonders", probably fantastic to see and hear live, especially as the song title is announced before bluntly going straight into it:
"I wonder what we’ll play for you tonight
Something heavy or something light
Something to set your soul alight
I wonder how we’ll answer when you say
‘We don’t like you – go away
Come back when you’ve learnt to play"
One of the best opening tunes I've heard on an album to set the stage of what's to come. Even had a nod to New Wave in the lyrics.
And there's more to come with "Bored Teenagers", where the Gaye's bass shines again towards the ending carrying that song. Barely blink and your into the next punk number "New Church" with its distinctive guitar wail after hearing the title.
By the time we hit "Newboys", things really are really moving on without much of a break from the fast paced songs. The guitars at the end of this number are really nice, and the Spotify lyrics note that lEnviado por dave69grohl) gives the song extra cred from a (famous?) fan who can appreciate the punk roots this song displayed.
When I hear the drum beginning of "Gary Gilmour's Eyes", I'm reminded of The Car's "Your All I Got Tonight", but this number takes a pretty shocking turn on the historically accurate events following Gilmour's execution and his donated organs.
"Bombsite Boy" highlights the bass again, while "No Time to Be 21" is another fast 2 minute rocker. "Safety In Numbers" addresses the New Wave craze and it and "Drowning Man" appears to be another dave69grohl submission on Spotify.
I too wasn't much of a fan of "On Wheels", but I did like the bass opening and the guitar solo midway through it, though the overall song seems to plod along in points.
"Great British Mistake" was a strong closer with a faster pace that was welcomed at this point. Interesting self reflecting lyrics.
Of the two bonus tracks, I liked "We Who Wait", which had a very nice strong opening with the guitar and bass both moving that number along very nicely to the best jam on the album. That song turned out to be one of my favo(u)rites on the album too.
All in all, I'm at a 7.5/10 in really enjoying this selection and genre I'd have probably said I'm not much of a fan of, save for the Clash, who I'm mostly familiar with.
Like many here, punk wasn't my thing back in 1978 not even hitting my teens yet. It would probably be a couple more years until my middle school rock discovery age of Zeppelin/Yes/Rush/Van Halen, etc. So you'll understand that @journolud could have put up many clues and I likely wouldn't have come close to this band without Google's help.
This selection did require repeated listens as @LGWIO noted tonight. I realized the more I listened, the more I got out of each song. I too noticed that each song would be short and seem to run right into the next one, and if the sound was similar, I was questioning if I was on the same track or there was just a long pause in the song (as in "Bombsite Boy"). The music was catchy enough, so I did some more looking into the band members, and then I stumbled upon the secret sauce I was hearing, the bassist Gaye Advert, aka Gaye Black.
She and lead singer and guitarist Tim"T. V." Smith formed the band and appears to be the driving force behind these songs. Later married, wiki noted that Advert stopped playing bass when the Adverts disbanded and she disappeared from the British punk scene. She has said that she was "a bit disillusioned and worn out," and felt picked on by the press. A shame, as she really was a strong force on these songs.
The first song, as Foggy notes, is a hilarious self-depreciating number "One Chord Wonders", probably fantastic to see and hear live, especially as the song title is announced before bluntly going straight into it:
"I wonder what we’ll play for you tonight
Something heavy or something light
Something to set your soul alight
I wonder how we’ll answer when you say
‘We don’t like you – go away
Come back when you’ve learnt to play"
One of the best opening tunes I've heard on an album to set the stage of what's to come. Even had a nod to New Wave in the lyrics.
And there's more to come with "Bored Teenagers", where the Gaye's bass shines again towards the ending carrying that song. Barely blink and your into the next punk number "New Church" with its distinctive guitar wail after hearing the title.
By the time we hit "Newboys", things really are really moving on without much of a break from the fast paced songs. The guitars at the end of this number are really nice, and the Spotify lyrics note that lEnviado por dave69grohl) gives the song extra cred from a (famous?) fan who can appreciate the punk roots this song displayed.
When I hear the drum beginning of "Gary Gilmour's Eyes", I'm reminded of The Car's "Your All I Got Tonight", but this number takes a pretty shocking turn on the historically accurate events following Gilmour's execution and his donated organs.
"Bombsite Boy" highlights the bass again, while "No Time to Be 21" is another fast 2 minute rocker. "Safety In Numbers" addresses the New Wave craze and it and "Drowning Man" appears to be another dave69grohl submission on Spotify.
I too wasn't much of a fan of "On Wheels", but I did like the bass opening and the guitar solo midway through it, though the overall song seems to plod along in points.
"Great British Mistake" was a strong closer with a faster pace that was welcomed at this point. Interesting self reflecting lyrics.
Of the two bonus tracks, I liked "We Who Wait", which had a very nice strong opening with the guitar and bass both moving that number along very nicely to the best jam on the album. That song turned out to be one of my favo(u)rites on the album too.
All in all, I'm at a 7.5/10 in really enjoying this selection and genre I'd have probably said I'm not much of a fan of, save for the Clash, who I'm mostly familiar with.
Last edited:
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Just a reminder in case people didn't see it yesterday because there were a lot of posts in quick succession:
Today's update/changeover will be later - sometime between 4 and 7.
Hell, I'm supposed to be posting because @FogBlueInSanFran is busy, but feel free to do the update, Foggy, if I'm not back at the keyboard after 4.00PM.
Today's update/changeover will be later - sometime between 4 and 7.
Hell, I'm supposed to be posting because @FogBlueInSanFran is busy, but feel free to do the update, Foggy, if I'm not back at the keyboard after 4.00PM.