Your last listen

[CN211276]

Rush - Hold your fire

[Fretless]

Cock Robin 'First Love / Last Rites' (1990)



Third album from American duo Cock Robin. After refining a brand of lush, emotional pop on their first two LP's they came out with this elegant masterpiece full of sophisticated, moving songs.

Production was by Rhett Davies who had done Roxy Music's 'Avalon' and drums were handled by Pat Mastelotto (him again!).

Not essential but very, very nice.

[CN211276]

Poison - Open up and say ahh!

[savvypaul]

A nice big slab of Turkish psychedelic folk...

[Fretless]

Cock Robin 'Cock Robin' (1985)



Birthday present to self, the Cherry Red remastered edition of Cock Robin's debut from 1985. There was so much good music in those days that it was easy to overlook albums like this. So, for those who are thinking that this is a twee Soft-Rock affair then there are a couple of surprises buried under the surface.

Multi-instrumentalist Peter Kingsbury was already a veteran of the American music scene, having worked with artists as diverse as Brenda Lee and Smokey Robinson, when he formed Cock Robin in the early 80's as a vehicle for his own songs. Californian songstress Anna LaCazio, drummer Lou Molino and British guitarist Clive Wright made up the rest of the band.

Brought in to produce the debut was prog-icon Steve Hillage, fresh from working on Simple Minds 'Sons and Fascination'. This self-titled album failed to crack either the US or UK markets but was a huge success in continental Europe and Kingsbury eventually settled in France where he remains active with a new incarnation of the group.

What the new, remastered edition exposes is the subtle precision and bite of Hillage's production that raises this record from easy-listening Country-Pop into a New Wave masterpiece with a velvet-lined edge. The similarities to 'Sons and Fascination' are clearly evident with jagged shards of guitar and a tightly propulsive rhythm section balancing the sweetness of the melodies and singing.

Below two tracks, the hard-edged 'Born With Teeth' and atmospheric 'A Little Innocence', the second of which could have turned up on Simple Minds classic 'New Gold Dream' (yes it's that good).

Listen and be surprised!

[Firebug1]

Hellcats:Warrior Princess

[CN211276]

Ghost - IMPERA

[Fretless]

Cock Robin 'After Here Through Midland' (1987)



Every so often a band creeps quietly up behind me, taps politely on a shoulder and then delivers a devastating uppercut to the jaw when I turn around to notice them. Cock Robin will be pressed with charges for assault with intent to enthrall.




On this, their second album, the group is reduced to the duo of singer/songwriters Peter Kingsbury and Anna LaCazio backed by a crew of session musicians. Recording this time was in the hands of 'name' producer Don Gehman who had just done REM's 'Life's Rich Pageant'. Under his guidance, the sound of Cock Robin moves slightly towards the mainstream but retains their unique mix of seductive melody and precision-punch.

'After Here Through Midland' is a truly gorgeous album with a stunningly clear and open production, brought even more to life by the excellent 2014 Cherry Pop remaster. This is music for music's sake, an album created out of a passionate search for sheer beauty.

I'm hooked.

[CN211276]

Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds

Very good on first hearing.

[CN211276]

Steven Wilson 'The Harmony Codex' (2023)



Amazing!