New Love & Rockets

[J. Peter Alfke <alfke@csvax.caltech.edu>]

New acquisition: brand new Love & Rockets 12" in a cute embossed silver sleeve.

A-side: "Kundalini Express"
	A My-T tasty slab of guitar riff, sort of Bauhaus-meets-glam, with
	genuinely silly lyrics bouncing back between David J and Daniel Ash
	on opposite speakers.  Goes through a few changes in the middle,
	including b-vox straight out of "Sympathy For the Devil", all adding
	up to a rather archly psychedelic feeling.  Great fun.

B-side: "Lucifer Sam"
	Yes, the classic Syd Barrett-era Floyd song.  The original still
	can't be topped (has no one else ever picked up Barrett's distinctive
	lunatic guitar style, or was it uncopyable?), but this interpre-
	tation is quite worth listening	to on its own merits.  Incorporates
	the rad guitar line, but on piano.

	(How many covers of this song does that make now?  And has ANY other
	 Floyd song every been covered?  Seems somebody did "Astronomy
	 Domine" recently, but maybe not.  Any post-Barrett stuff, or is it
	 too politically incorrect nowadays?  (Hell, the Palace, a muy-trendy
	 LA dance club, played Led Zep's "Rock and Roll" last I was there,
	 in between New Order and the Pet Shop Boys -- given time everything
	 comes back.  "In ten years, there will be a Cocteau Twins revival"
	 (Robin Guthrie) ) )  Oh, yes.  Back to the review.

	"Holiday on the Moon"
	A piece of fluff, but enjoyable.  See most of the lyrics below.

The whole thing reminds me a bit of XTC's "Dukes of Stratosphear" thingy
(wigged-out 60's homage/send-up) albeit a lot less extreme.  I'm really
getting to like Love & Rockets, especially with the CD version of their
album with the added tracks; if I weren't so damn busy with finals I'd
go see them open for Siouxsie tomorrow night.  Sigh.  Why can't the good
concerts happen during the summer?  Instead we get Bob Fucking Hope and
Neil Anushead-except-that-he-did-write-some-of-the-Monkees'-best-songs
Diamond.  Grrr.

Also got a used promo 12" of "The Big Sky", which it turns out just has
the "Special Single Mix" on both sides.  Sounds the same except she turned
the bass up.  Hoo boy.  Guess I'll go back and fork over 5 bux for the
real 12-incher.
						--Peter Alfke
						  alfke@csvax.caltech.edu
"You can't get a suntan on the moon
 But I wouldn't mind a holiday there"