After making their debut in 1982 with the self-produced and released album
Blaze of Glory
,
Game Theory
clearly wanted to aim for a more polished and professional sound on their next releases; for the 1983 EP
Pointed Accounts of People You Know
, leader
Scott Miller
took the band into a real studio (admittedly a modest one), and the 1984 EP
Distortion
found them working with an outside producer for the first time,
Michael Quercio
of paisley underground psychedelic heroes
the Three O'Clock
. The French indie label
Lolita Records
, then enamored of the paisley underground scene, licensed the two EPs and fashioned them into an album,
Dead Center
, making it the curious follow-up to
, flown in from across the ocean to the group's homeland. While
doesn't cohere as an album as well as one might hope, the individual tracks shows that
were growing past the home-brewed sound of
, and "Penny, Things Won't," "Metal and Glass Exact," and "Life in July" are smarter and better executed than nearly anything on
BoG
, while
Quercio
's production was a great complement to songs like "The Red Baron," "Nine Lives to Rigel Five," and "Shark Pretty" (the latter featuring a guitar solo from
David Bowie
sideman
Earl Slick
). And while
Miller
was clearly the leader of this band, bassist
Fred Juhos
, keyboardist
Nan Becker
, and drummer
Dave Gill
were more than capable accompanists who gave these songs the flavors they needed. One could certainly hear
's talent and potential on
, but the material that formed
represented a major step forward for
and his group, and this music suggested they were maturing into the great smart pop band that would emerge on 1985's
Real Nighttime
. ~ Mark Deming