This 1980 release from Vancouver’s Pointed Sticks hits all the right places in the New Wave scene. It’s got the beat, pace & sound that made it one of my most played records at the time. When I play it now, it’s the whole album, not a song or two….and invariably my head starts bopping at some point. This album wasn’t available in the record stores in my hometown. My folks were on vacation in Vancouver (I stayed home, working), and I asked them to go into a record store in Vancouver to get a copy. They did, and told me there were some “shady” customers in the “shady” store in which they purchased the record. I chuckled as I was a “shady” customer of our local “shady” record store. Those were the days….
For me, the stand out songs are “Real Thing”, “Perfect Youth” and “Part of the Noise”, but all the songs reach me at some level. There is a balance between rockers and ballads, with great songwriting and musicality. If you’re a New Wave or power pop fan, you need to give this puppy a spin.
Here’s a link to a review at allmusic.com.
The original album ends with “Part of the Noise”, four additional songs were added in a 2005 re-release.