Really Late Reviews (First in an occasional series)

Welcome to something I've been mulling over for a little bit, and what will likely be a semi-recurring feature-- my 2 cents on entertainment options that may have slipped under the radar, or are worth a second look-- or avoiding completely. I thought about calling it "Really Late Biased Reviews," but that would be redundant. So without further hesitation, here we go:

Any Trouble: Where are all the Nice Girls? (Stiff Records) 1980; Re-released 2007

I did call this "Really Late Reviews," didn't I? May as well start with talking about a record that came out some 28+ years ago, but brought back to the fore with this band's recent reunion, and a lovingly packaged and remastered re-release of this underlooked gem. There are some bands who make one really great album, then spend the rest of their careers trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle-- or running like crazy away from it. Any Trouble is one of those bands-- but what an album! This CD was in constant rotation in my car, at work and in my head for most of the summer, and it's an absolute knockout, a frenetic slice of power pop played with punky abandon, hooks that kill, and topped with wonderful lyrics and memorable choruses all sung by a great singer and not a clunker song in the bunch-- the perfect storm that couldn't miss, right? Wrong, but this album and this band had enough of a cult following that it remains a critic's darling nearly 3 decades after its first release. Later albums showed Any Trouble (and their record company's) increasing desperation to find a wider audience, saddling them with overly-slick production (like using A Flock of Seagulls' producer), and turning them into a synth-pop outfit before they finally called it quits in 1984. But don't let that deter you-- Where Are All The Nice Girls? has since been reissued by the label (Stiff Records, home of Elvis Costello, Madness, Graham Parker, early Devo, Nick Lowe, and most any of the cooler New Wave bands we all used to watch late at night on MTV), complete with extensive liner notes, bonus material (early singles and B-sides, alternate takes), and a remastering that has this band fairly crackling off of the speakers. Fans of Joe Jackson's first two albums, early Elvis Costello, and Squeeze should definitely check this out. You'll be glad you did.