Têtes Noires – Clay Foot Gods – LP

8,47

SKU: Rounder 9008 LP Categories: ,

Description

Original, provocative music from a six-woman rock and roll band based in Minneapolis. Their critically acclaimed debut record was largely a cappella; on this 1987 album they're playing instruments, and have added a drummer. Produced by Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo of Violent Femmes.

Track Listing:
A. 1. Reflections - 3:44   2. Tell Me When - 4:00   3. Dear Jane - 4:00   4. Pour More Water on Her, George - 3:36 5  . Walk Through the Ruins - 2:52
B. 1. Bless Me - 3:45   2. The Plain - 3:18   3. Heading For a Fall - 3:46   4. World Turning - 2:20   5. Why Are The Farmers Dying? - 2:34

Personnel:
Jennifer Gold (vocals, violin) , Camille Gage (vocals, keyboards) , Renee Kayon guitar, vocals) , Cynthia Bartell (bass, vocals) , Angela Frucci (piano, keyboards) , Cristel Little (drums) , Victor de Lorenzo (brushes on A4) , Brian Ritchie (guitar on B1) , Abdulhameed Alwan (tar on B3)

Reviews:

1. AllMusic - William Ruhlmann
Rounder Records may have been hoping for a Bangles with more integrity by signing up Têtes Noiresand putting them into the studio for their third (and first non-self-made) album, Clay Foot Gods, with Victor DeLorenzo and Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes as producers. Instead, they got a band that mixed folk and choral influences with the kind of lighter new wave sound of Blondie and the B-52's. Boasting two keyboard players, the group could easily recreate the cheesy B-52's organ style (derived from the likes of ? and the Mysterians) heard on "Tell Me When," while "Plain" had much of the sleek energy of Blondie's hits. Of course, such material required compelling vocalists, and while the vocals could be a tad too slickly harmonious, both Camille Gage and Jennifer Holt were effective leads. The problem with the album may not have been that it was too commercial for the group's existing fan base, but that it wasn't commercial enough (or released by a powerful enough marketer). "Dear Jane," for example, was a pop hit waiting to happen; that is, if it could have been produced in an even more pop style and if America were ready to embrace a song about the breakup of apparently gay lovers.