Suburban Lawns - S/T LP

Label: Superior Viaduct: Year: 2021; Format: Vinyl LP

If someone had played me this record say back in '87 when I was thrashing to bands like Rattus, E.N.T or Inferno I am one hundred percent sure I would have just shaken my head while laughing out loud by discrediting it as cheesy new wave. New Wave it certainly is but this originally in 1981 released album on I.R.S is the kind of New Wave I have over the years come to appreciate. It's edgy, angular, punky and asks a lot of questions. I love reading about the early Southern California punk scene and I must have come across Suburban Lawns on many occasions but for some reason the band never stuck with me until I was at my local record store not too long ago and the proprietor played the record over the speakers. Now this isn't the first time I am saying that but a good record store owner knows his customers so I sure as hell like that. The songs caught my attention and I asked who that was and when I was told Suburban Lawns it clicked in the sense that I have heard the name many times but it just wasn't on my radar so to speak. Suburban Lawns started out in 1978 in Long Beach, CA and according to the excellent liner notes their earliest shows were with The Reactionaries (pre-Minutemen) as well as the Alley Cats. Their first two singles were self-released and "Gidget Goes To Hell" is worth looking up on Youtube as it's not just a great song but the video itself is something else. The band played the usual Los Angeles area underground clubs and by 1981 they have caught the attention of a bigger label leading up to this LP on I.R.S. The liner notes describe the album as "quintessential Reagan-era new wave/punk" and I couldn't agree more. No song is really like the other as the vocal duties switch back and forth between the members leading to a really varied and interesting album that never gets boring. It's clear that the band was tired of the beach and technology encroaching on life in every aspect and songs like "Computer Date" amazingly foreshadow modern day society years ahead of time. I think you're getting the picture here as this isn't your happy New Wave band playing songs to please everybody but rather a group of intellectuals taking new wave in a more sophisticated, artsy and intriguing direction. One band member, Su Tissue, has supposedly vanished completely after the band fell apart in 1983 and to this day nobody seems to know where she is. This record certainly deserves to be examined over and over as it is full of interesting details, musically as well as lyrically. Highly recommended!