Tones on Tail
The defunct band Bauhaus, which appeared in 1983's chic vampire flick The Hunger, rose from the undead to make this record. Calling themselves Tones on Tail, two Bauhaus members and a pal have been musically revived with this release consisting of peppy dance tunes juxtaposed with broodingly slow numbers. Unlike most British bands with synthesizers, Tones on Tail manages to produce surprising rhythms instead of a monotonous bam-bam-bam dance beat. The group also concocts strange mixtures of sounds. The tune Twist, already a dance club hit, has a kind of bluesy guitar melody that might have been a 1960s James Bond theme, but the band backs this up with taped sea gull screeches and a monotonic vocal. The music is usually simple and controlled; if the vocals by Daniel Ash sometimes slay the lyrics, all the instruments produce a clear, clean sound. Don't look for this group on the concert tour, though. Since The Album Pop was made, Tones on Tail has added one more member from Bauhaus and renamed themselves Love and Rockets. If they don't take off under that name, they'll probably try another. (PVC/ Beggars Banquet)
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