Howard Devoto's biography would make for an interesting bildungsroman As a wee lad, he moved around a lot. He attended grammar school in Leeds and later went to university studying psychology, and later on humanities, where he met future fellow Buzzcock Pete Shelley. At the age of 23, he and Shelley founded the kinetic pop punk band in 1975, but Devoto left after only one album and went on to form Magazine, his very influential new wave/post-punk group in 1977. After several albums Magazine split up in 1981 and Devoto spent the next two years working on the over-looked and underrated gem that I'm posting here today, Jerky Versions of the Dream. Throughout his career, Devoto has always been pushing for new ground and has always been ahead of his time experimenting with various genres and styles to create his own sound. Although somewhat of an oddity, Devoto's solo work would best be described as new wave with a vivacious punk spirit. Baring many similarities to The The and especially Captain Sensible (who both came from similar backgrounds and both made strangely similar music with their solo projects), this album sits along side the best of the era. The hilarious video for "Out of Shape with Me" captures how I used to feel during a continuous week-long (or some cases month-long") bender. It also showcases Devoto's sense of humor, which is pretty prevalent throughout the record.
Rating: 8.5/10
DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/?9k5dz28ojku5lvv
No comments:
Post a Comment