THE REVILLOS
Emerging more than a year after Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds broke a nation's heart by dismantling the Rezillos, the Revillos' Rev Up debut set the stage, immediately, for a mission that was going to take the last band's sound into an entirely new universe -- one that had, sad to say, already been visited by the B-52's' and the Cramps' recent doings, but which was nevertheless ripe for serious exploration. A dramatic hybrid of day-glo rockabilly, B-movie glitter, and post-punk trash, Rev Up is a howling good time, a blur of wacked intentions and wired energies that settle for a moment on one, two, a dozen classic boogies, but never hang around for long, because there's always another planet to build a drive-in on. And so, "Secret of the Shadow" blurs into the title track; "The Rock-A-Boom" leaks into "Voodoo"; and the semi-classic single "Motorbike Beat" incinerates everything in sight. [AMG]
Sounding like a cross between B-52's and the Cramps with lotsa 60's revivalism, it's maybe one of the most underrated new wave records, but it's the one of the most fun rock slabs for sure. Surf guitar merged with new wave trash tunes is really cool thing you should check out. Rev Up!
