By the time
Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce
hit record stores in 1981, it had been ten years since
Foghat
had released their first American single
"I Just Want to Make Love to You,"
and even though the veteran London
blues
/
boogie rock
outfit had a rather long list of commercial accomplishments, the wavering quality and focus of their music in the late '70s had shaken the band's core fan base and slight critical appeal. The stomp and the swagger were replaced by glitter and global tours, rust turned to chrome, howlin'
to raunch and roll. So bandleader
Lonesome Dave Peverett
continued an experiment he had tentatively begun a year earlier on
Tight Shoes
: drawing on new musical influences from the burgeoning
punk
and
new wave
scene in and around London. While not exactly a
recording, certain tracks on the
Bearsville
release, especially the ode to London pub thuggery
"Wide Boys,"
are decidedly minimal, modern, and just plain un-bluesy. In general, the arrangements on the record are sparse, the songs and solos are short, and the sound is tighter throughout -- with tracks like
"Let Me Get Close to You,"
"Delayed Reaction"
being the best examples of the bizarre commingling of a
Elvis Costello
influence with
's reflexive
sensibilities. An interesting effort,
might actually captivate extremely open-minded
fans and
completists. ~ Vincent Jeffries