The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (1976)

Death on Credit

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So, today, having a good $80 to spend on records, I went record store hopping. Among my purchases was the first album by the Modern Lovers, which I bought because I like the song ' Road Runner'. Man, how I wish I had spent that $20 on something else.

The Modern Lovers were heavily influenced by bands like the Velvet Underground and the Stooges (although you'd never guess it by listening to the music), and sang songs about standard subjects like teenage boredom/angst, girls, and a love of rock 'n roll. Sounds good, right? Among one of the band's principal stances was a rebellion against the sex and drug excesses of their favorite bands. This stance plays a large part of what makes this the signle wimpiest "protopunk" album ever made.

I can dig not liking sex and drugs, I can dig not having sex or doing drugs, I can especially dig not singing about having sex and doing drugs...but making an album filled with songs ABOUT not having sex or doing drugs is what gets me. So, you're straight-edge? Good for you. I don't want to hear about how special you are for being straight edge. I've gone straight edge too, I don't get laid either, I'm not going to go around singing songs praising myself for all that. Call my old fashioned, but I need a little bit of sleaze driving my rock 'n roll.

A band can still pull off a good sound without being excessivly sleazy, but the Modern Lovers just fails on all counts. Aside from a few gems (yes, there are a couple of great songs on this record), the band's overall sound is horribly flat. This is not helped any by Jonathon Richman's stale vocals, with the boredom just seeping through the microphone. You don't have to be as edgy as Keith Richards or Johnny Thunders, but for god's sake, at least come across like you have a pulse. You're in love with rock 'n roll...fantastic, let's see some evidence.

On a side note, my dad did sound for Richman in the 90's. He met a lot of bastards during his time in the music industry, but apparently Richman was the worst. He said that he came close to laying the guy out a few times...If he's anywhere near as dull and wimpy as his music, then I'm sure that my dad would have had no problem doing so.

If you ever find yourself in a record store, and have any temptation to get this record, please, just take your money and throw it in the trashbin. It will be much better spent there than on this terribly lack luster record.
 

Sunny

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Re: The Modern Lovers

^^^
I enjoyed reading that :heheh: ................ and I won't be wasting my hard earned cash on that album after your review.
 

Soot and Stars

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Re: The Modern Lovers

Best negative review ever! :grinthumb I usually don't dig negativity towards any music but when it's in good humor and makes me laugh I'm all for it! :lmao:
 

Harkat

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Re: The Modern Lovers

Haha, thanks for the advice :grinthumb
 

rtbuck

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Re: The Modern Lovers

:lmao: LOL!!! Great Review!!! ...& I'm a fan of Jonathan Richman! However if I would have read that his influences were the Stooges & Velvets I'm sure I would have felt just like you. I enjoy the Cowboy Junkies now but I'll never forget buying their album: I was in my favorite import record store & I spotted the Cowboy Junkies. Immediately I thought of Johnny Thunders w/ The name & I knew that Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan was in a band called the London Cowboys so I was convinced this was going to be a raunchy rock & roll record & besides that there was a sticker on the front which read "Best version ever of Sweet Jane - Lou Reed" so this had to be what I expected...boy was I wrong!

Anyway, about Jonathan Richman... I had never heard of him or "Roadrunner" & one day in the mid 80's I was flipping through an old Creem Magazine from around 1980 & I read a review on a concert by Jonathan Richman. The review ripped him apart but praised him at the same time so I was curious. I knew from reading the review that he had some goofy songs that were not to be taken seriously so I that is what I was expecting. I picked up his live album & I really enjoyed it especially "Ice Cream Man" (it has to be from that Live album not the live recording from his Best of album)

I picked up a couple more of his records (one being the Modern Lovers record) & there was a lot of crap on those records but the songs I liked I really liked (although the crap songs outweighed the good!). On CD I have the Live album but for the rest of the songs I bought d/l's of the ones I like because buying a whole cd would be a waste so there's maybe 15 songs that I really like.
 

LOU/REALM

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Re: The Modern Lovers

.........Ice cream man?? haha:) not heard that track for years......i kind of liked that song too in a strange type of way..[er so bad....its good type of thing]......how did Jonathan Richman get a record deal ?:D

 

rtbuck

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Re: The Modern Lovers

.........Ice cream man?? haha:) not heard that track for years......i kind of liked that song too in a strange type of way..[er so bad....its good type of thing]......how did Jonathan Richman get a record deal ?:D


Good question but you summed up how I like his music ...."In a Strange type of way":grinthumb
 

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