Howard the Duck

1) What are this albums' strengths?

As it stands, it isn't that different from other pre-C86 stuff out there, and i can point to several superior bands of that era - The Weather Prophets, The Loft and The June Brides. The main strength I think for this one is that the songwriting is quite competent, lots of melodic hooks and I admire their attempts at creating more diversity for what is basically jangly pop.

2) What are its weaknessess?

It tends to be all over the place. Some songs sound a bit like the Smiths, some like early Lightning Seeds.

3) How does it compare to the artist's other work?

This is the only one I've heard. I have heard of them before, but not heard them before.

4) Favourite songs?

Just for injecting some variety with horns and strings - "These are the Things", "Hey" and "September Sting"

5) What feelings did this album evoke?

Mostly nostalgia, and watching The Tube (British music program with obscure bands) on VHS in the 80s.

6) How does this album fit into your regular rotation?

I don't really like it that much, so not really many repeat listenings.

7) What stood out to you about this album's themes, musically/lyrically?

the topics are quite disparate, and the themes vague - in fact, i'd say it's slightly schizoid

8) If you've had any noteworthy experiences with this album, what have they been?

None, except that the download is quite short and need not much fuss.

9) What do you know about this album's creation? Any interesting facts or anecdotes?

None

10) How does this album represent the chosen theme?

I'm not aware of any.

11) How does this album compare to other albums nominated for this theme?

I think I like the other albums in that nomination table more, all of them, more than this, actually.

12) How does this album compare to others in its genre?

Not that strong. Definitely better pre-C86 stuff out there.

13) Can you recommend similar albums to this?

I can point you to The Weather Prophets, The Loft and The June Brides but I haven't heard entire albums.

14) What does this album's artwork say about it? Is it well paired with the music?

um, no - it looks like a rollicking punk album but it's not

15) If you voted for this album, why?

I didn't

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Paedantic Basterd

I can only imagine that the Pale Fountains won this poll, because they were the one album that the fewest people have already heard. I can't say for sure, but I know I always cast for an album I've never heard before, and I would suppose that being one of the only albums not hailed as a classic, it held the most intrigue.

This is a simple album, really. It's just a catchy jangle/sophisti-pop album. Perhaps I should stop nominating albums that I enjoy and instead select albums that sound complex or challenging, I don't know. I prefer the melodies of Kitchen Table to the other jangle pop giants I've heard; 16 Lover's Lane, or about half of the Smiths' songs for example. The album's greatest weakness is its patchiness, I think, it's a bit scattered and not all that consistent in its quality. Favourite tracks are Stole the Love, Bicycle Thieves, and the title track.

I regularly play this album any time I get in the mood for jangle pop or 80s albums. The only other albums I've heard from this theme are Psychocandy, which I really don't feel anything for, and This Nation's Saving Grace, which is excellent and I wish had won instead. If I'd known it would come down to a vote or two I'd have saved my vote (spent on Songs From the Big Chair) for this one. I guess if you enjoyed this you'd probably enjoy Shack (ex-Pale Fountain member project) or The Go-Betweens, The Beautiful South, or even Prefab Sprout.

Goofle

I should get round to listening to this pretty soon.

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Zer0

It took a bit of looking to find a download of this album and all I could find was a 128kbps rip. A few Mediafire files were deleted which was quite worrying. The files I did download have now seemingly vanished off my hard-drive which is also quite worrying.

I did manage to listen to the album once though. The first few songs or so didn't really seem to grab me and to be honest my hopes for the album started to sink. But as the album progressed it seemed to get a good bit better and there are a couple of songs that I really enjoyed, such as 'Bruised Arcade' and the last song 'September Sting'. Overall however there is a feeling of inconsistency and the album probably would be better off with two or three songs cut from it. Although I love these kind of albums this one fell short of my expectations overall. The album does have an uplifting feeling (most albums featuring brass usually do!), so it wouldn't sound out of place at a lively 80's-themed party. It does perhaps sound a tad dated with its 80's pop production and perhaps even a bit throwaway.

If I was to recommend similar albums I would probably recommend Infected by The The and You Can't Hide Your Love Forever by Orange Juice. They're both catchy and infectious pop albums yet have their roots in British indie music. Compared to the other albums nominated from 1985 I'd definitely listen to Psychocandy and Tim over this any day, probably because they're two albums I enjoy immensely.

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debaserr

* I won't be posting a review, but I found some high quality MP3's. PM if you want it. FLAC on request.

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Last.FM

Paedantic Basterd

I don't "get" Psychocandy.

Howard the Duck

don't like 60s surf music and girl group harmonies with lots of feedback?

it's a pivotal noise-pop release

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Paedantic Basterd

I know, and it seems like something I should/would enjoy, but it left no impression on me at all. Been meaning to go back to it now that it's been a few months, but... there's so much other stuff I could listen to in the meantime too. Shame.

Howard the Duck

it's also something that should be listened to at the time of its release, when it was still fresh and new - nothing else sounded like it at that time - if i were to listen to it only now - i'd think i probably would share some of your sentiments

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Paedantic Basterd

Themes are up for voting!