On This Record!A MOSQUE IN THE ETHIOPIAN OUTBACK beams a message clear to the Pomona Freeway...
A BASS-PLAYING VAMPIRE stalks his prey in the heart of the Carpathians...
BOSNIAN YOUTHS BENT ON REVENGE besiege the ancient bathing houses of Dubrovnik...
BELEAGUERED TEEN-AGERS pursue masochistic sports... while
A ROVING MINISTER puts aside the cloth for matters of the heart!
So reads the copy on the back cover of this batch of six amusing songs from singer, keyboardist, and accordionist Billy Sheets and his band, produced by Devo's Bob Mothersbaugh and released in 1982 on Big Clock Records. The joke is played out in full on the first track, "Skanking in the Trailerpark," a hybrid of ska and eastern European folk styles. The European vein continues with "Gypsy Camp," and then comes the highlight of the record, the superb faux-spy-movie instrumental "Weekend In Dubrovnik." Side two's three songs ("Skating On Thin Ice," "Love That Lasts," "Downtown B.B.Q. (Shakin' It)") are in a more conventional party-rock mode, a la Joe King Carrasco and the Crowns. The full band line-up is:
- Billy Sheets: lead vocal, accordion, keyboards, harmonica
- Kent State: guitar, tambourine, vocals
- Ricardo de Mayo: bass, keyboards, accordion, vocals
- Sammy "Vic" Flores: drums (side A), vocals
- Gajate: percussion
- Alan Lyle: drums (side B)
Nothing astounding here, just a good solid slice of American new wave with a novelty bent. Get the vinyl rip here or here.
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