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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 38, Number 7. 15 April 1975

Records — Nightmares and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle: The J. Geils Band Atlantic SD 18107

page 16

Records

Nightmares and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle: The J. Geils Band Atlantic SD 18107

Records

Thank God there are still fine albums which arrive unheralded by gigantic advertising campaigns or three-part, in depth interviews. It's nice to have the chance to try a new flavour on your tongue before it's rammed down your throat. Not that Nightmares ... leaves a sweet taste. It's a very bitter pill, indeed : a devastating, microscopic view of life (set against the drabness and curfews) in the Bronx ghettoes where the J. Geils Band grew up. There have been records before about the inhumanity of cities, of course, but rarely a whole set that comes as close to the bone as this one.

'Stoop Down '39' is a hallucinatory oasis among the cold facts : a beautiful shimmering plea. For the rest, denouncements of the world around form the main core. The most stunning are the supercharged 'Detroit Breakdown' and the cynical 'Must of got Lost'. The former is heightened by a prodding Mick Taylor blues accompagniment and a children's chorus, and the hopelessness of trying to bring kids 'up where the ladies on my street aren't there for their health' is echoed in 'Must of got Lost', a 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' —type category of evils which could almost end with singer Peter Wolf [unclear: cbo-tling], 'well, frankly, I couldn't care less'.

The words, and sometimes the arrangements, make the record unusual The high-pitched vocal style throws up a wealth of comparisons. Sometimes like Bruce Springsteen, or a hard-edged, early Smokey Robinson, or even Labi Siffre. Probably the nearest thing would be Lowell George with all the surplus emoting cut away. The tunes themselves often sound derivative, but none the less, the whole made a powerful impact on me.