Track Listing
1. Roadrunner
2. Astral Plane
3. Old World
4. Pablo Picasso
5. I'm Straight
6. Dignified and Old
7. She Cracked
8. Hospital
9. Someone I Care About
10. Girl Friend
11. Modern World
12. Government Center
Review
This is a particularly great album, not only because the music is pretty amazing but also because it is actually not an album from 1976 at all, it is actually a compilation of recording from 1973. And if you think of this as being from 1973 it sounds even more ahead of its time than otherwise. Thing was no one wanted to put their album out until 76.
This is some pretty amazing music, the inspiration of the Velvet Underground is very obvious here, but so is the particular slant put on it by Jonathan Richman. Imagine if the Velvets were writing short rock songs with a snarl and a great sense of humour. That is what you get here. The tracks are all great and pretty funny and curiously it sounds more like much more recent music, like The Strokes or The Coral for example than anything else going around in the 70's. There is an element of proto-punk here but it goes beyond that.
The influence of The Modern Lovers can hardly be over-emphasised, and you will probably know versions of tracks of this album which are covers by other bands. Pablo Picasso is a particular example of a very covered song, and you don't really need to have listened to other people covering them to realise just how influential they were and how modern they sound. I am really loving this album and it is going straight into my Mp3 player so you people get it too!
Track Highlights
1. Pablo Picasso
2. I'm Straight
3. Hospital
4. Roadrunner
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In 2003, the album was ranked number 381 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Roadrunner:
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