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Hüsker Dü,New Day Rising (SST): Although only neophytes daretry to distinguish one brutally fast hard-core song from the next, thetracks that rise from the rush are enough to make normal fans hold onto their hopes for second-generation punk. After a debut album aptlytitledLand Speed Record, Hüsker Dü'sMetal Circus andZen Arcade proved Bob Mould to be not only a world-class noiseguitarist but a sporadically melodic songwriter who thinks for himselfas well. The band's latest is hard-core that any old Clash (and maybeByrds) fan can hum. Such Mould songs as "I Apologize" and "CelebratedSummer" reject adolescent rage without settling for cheap acceptance,and drummer Grant Hart pays tuneful tribute to two identifiably humanwomen. Yet if you turn the album up loud enough to clear the dustballs out of the anti-audiophile mix, you'll still be accused ofviolating your lease. Otherwise, what would be the point?
Katrina and the Waves (Capitol): Nobody who had heard 1983'sWalking on Sunshine or 1984's2--import albums, check'em out--could understand why no U.S. label was backing Katrina andthe Waves head to head against the Pretenders. Songwriter-guitaristKimberley Rew has an unerring knack for up-to-the-minute Sixties-stylehooks and writes rock-outsider lyrics that never get obtrusivelyspecific; singer-guitarist Katrina Leskanich has a voice so big andenthusiastic she could make Barry Manilow's songs sound likeHolland-Dozier-Holland. Commercially speaking, what more could youwant? So now, Capitol has boosted the sound (drum tracks, especially)on ten of the Waves' songs, which I suppose will help sales, but thesongs don't need it. Just deciding which ten to redo must have driveneverybody crazy--but it's about time somebody did.
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra Featuring Paul Gonsalves(Fantasy): As part of rock 'n' roll's first generation, I've never beencomfortable with the big bands my favorite music displaced. DukeEllington is America's greatest composer, but I don't listen muchmore to him than to Beethoven. Because I treasure spontaneity, mytastes in jazz run to bebop--and to albums like this one. Cut in onefour-hour 1962 session that caught the leader without any new materialand went unreleased until now, these eight Ellingtonstandards--including at least two ("Caravan" and "Take the 'A' Train")almost any American adult will recognize--showcase the work of tenorsaxophonist Gonsalves. It goes without saying that Gonsalves showsmore sonic and harmonic imagination than such R&B contemporaries (andheroes of my youth) as Lee Allen and Sam "The Man" Taylor. The beautyis that he's not above outhonking them as well.
Playboy, Aug. 1985
| Sept. 1985 |  |