Omnivore Records is reissuing for the first time what they claim are the first four albums by the charter member of the 70s punk rock movement, Jonathan Richman and his band The Modern Lovers. Unfortunately, they are not releasing the “real” first eponymous album produced by John Cale that truly threw down the gauntlet with classics like “Road Runner” and “Pablo Picasso”. Having said that, this album is still a great way to get introduced to the world view of Richman, who still raised a few eyebrows with this album.
Richman teams up with David Robinson/dr, Greg Keranen/b and LeRoy Radcliff/g, with all of the songs being originals except for Chuck Berry’s “Back In The USA” and the spiritual “Amazing Grace” . The wide breath between those two songs essentially summarizes Richman’s catalogue, as his tunes have a rootsy and assertive rock feel, but juxtaposed with the wide-eyed innocence of his almost as on “Springtime”. Then, there are the subject matters involved like “Here Come The Martian Martians” and “Abominable Snowman In The Market” and you get a feel that you’re not in Kansas anymore. Head banging to impress your grandma with.
For their second (third?) album, Richman and company adds exoticism to his mix of punk and innocence, starting things off with a Japanese tune “The Sweeping Wind (Kwa Ti Feng)” and rocking up the childhood tune “The Wheels ON The Bus”. Then, you’ve got the instrumental “Egyptian Reggae” as well as a song dedicated to a wrecked car in “Dodge Veg-O-Matic”. The Velvet Underground with Tiny Tim?