The Cosmopolitans - Wild Moose Party (Bacchus)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 10/11/06
“New Wave Pom Pom Girls Gone Go-Go, NYC 1980-1981” is what it says on the cover, which is a pretty darn good description. Very upbeat, non-shoe-gazing. They can’t really sing, but they’re not really trying to. This is terrific fun… remember when music used to be FUN? Does anybody remember laughter?
Most lyrics are pretty muddy, but I didn’t hear FCCs. Most cuts are GREAT, but the last two are some of the worst live recordings ever.
1. 2:45 ***jangly uptempo New Age workout music with spoken reading of 50’s marriage manual – great fun
2. 2:05 ***jumpy uptempo bop with harmonica and nonsense.
3. 3:24 **total early 60’s rock with B52s overtones. Goofy skit bit, and gnarly farfisa.
4. 4:32 *rubber band guitar effects-laden intro to solid twist-a-rama.
5. 2:37 **very uptempo with a guitar solo straight from the best of garages. Don’t bother me, I’m doing the frug.
6. 2:24 **uptempo bouncy loco-locomotion.
7. 3:06 ***Sam the Sham, except with dissonant chick singers.
8. 2:46 **uptempo Hit the Road Jack bounce dance number. Cool guitar!
9. 4:47 ***midtempo (downtempo for these guys) stroll with a pretty funny story behind it (if you have a sick sense of humor!)
10. 2:38 downtempo, garage-y Link Wray wanna-be (crap live production, alas), 10 seconds of clapping at end.
11. 2:25 slow live version of Shangri-las classic – unfortunately production is awful (and performance is pretty bad, too)