1. Easy Knowledge (J.Worth/D.Payne)
2. There’s A War Going On (J.Worth/D.Payne) 3. Hanging Out at the 7-Eleven (J.Worth) 4. Watching Watching (Worth/Nicholson) 5. Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White (Cobb) 6. We're So Cool (J.Worth) 7. It’s A Crime (J.Worth/P.DiPuccio) 8. Downtown (Johansen/Thunders) 9. Local Hero [Bonus Track] 10. Souvenir [Bonus Track] 11. You Beat Me To The Punch [Bonus Track] 12. Beat The Devil [Unreleased Version - Bonus Track] |
ReviewsVILLAGE VOICE
Robert Christgau's rave review in the Voice... Six out of eight songs on this half-hour-plus "EP" get to the heart of smart teen disillusion, which is as much as I ever expect of the L.A.-spawned nuevo-Nuggets approach. The Standells cover sounds like Dylan and states Blow-Up's credo, which in the great smart-teen tradition comes perilously close to making a fashion statement about not conforming to style. A MINUS LA Herald-Examiner - June 23, 1984 by Mikal Gilmore
Back in the mid-70s, in that restive, uncertain time between the eventful (if at-odds) insights of David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. and the explosiveness of the Ramones and Sex Pistols, this was the sort of music that worked as a sustaining touchstone for many rock 'n' roll diehards: raw, basic, fervid (and fun) fare, illuminated by a temper borrowed essentially from Highway 61 Revisited, and a sad-eyed aggressiveness learned from December's Children and the first Velvet Underground album. Now, in the mid-'80s, after punk's insurgency has turned into another version of upward-bound, commercial savvy, this same manner of youthful, garage-derived sensibility seems, if anything, even more illuminating and promising. The trouble is, I can't really tell you much about this local five-piece, except that songwriter and lead vocalist Jody Taylor Worth sings and composes much like Elliott Murphy and David Johansen in their come-and-go primes (also a bit like Jim Carroll in a prime he's never had), and is the son of film producer Marvin Worth ("Unfaithfully Yours" and "Lenny"). who once also managed Lenny Bruce. That last bit of info doesn't really bear upon the music, though it might help account for the uncommon innate intelligence and verve that permeate Worth's songwriting. In any event, this is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable and encouraging LPs I've heard all year. I play it just about as much as I play the Bruce Springsteen and Lou Reed albums, and for much the same reason: It strives for transcendence in the face of mundane fortune, and it finds much to celebrate and affirm in that quest. If I were a record biz cat I'd sign these kids in a flash. They're pretty amazing. |
CreditsJody Worth: Vocals, guitar
Pat DiPuccio: Guitar, harmonica Christian Super: Piano, organ Michael Rummans: Bass Ed Cirino: Drums with Steve Hunter (12 string guitar), Greg Oakland (bass), Kenny Ray Padilla (saxophone, bass), Devin Payne (bass, vocals, saxophone), Steve Polto (drums), Jimmy Johnson (bass), Gary Ferguson (drums), Gabriel Katona (organ), Randy Kerber (synthesizer) Produced by Devin Payne and Blow-Up Engineered and Mixed by Larry Brown. Local Hero EP Engineered and Mixed by Duane Baron. Additional Engineers: David DeVore, Bruce Ablin, Rusty Cusick & Ethan James. Recorded "all over Los Angeles" at Present Time Recorders, Preferred Sound, Salty Dog Studios, Wireworks & the Pasha Music House. "Downtown" recorded live at the Roxy Theatre March 5, 1983. Bonus Tracks From the "Local Hero" EP: Local Hero (J. Worth) Souvenir (J.Worth/B. Nicholson) You Beat Me to the Punch (W.Robinson/R.White) "Easy Knowledge" Session Outtake: Beat the Devil (Remake) (J.Worth/B.Nicholson) © 1981, 1984, 2013 Blow-Up Music. All rights reserved. |
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