A fresh breath from a
Cold body
by
Vincent Fumar (3/16/84) Times-Picayune
Few rock bands can claim the distinction of releasing an album nearly two years after breaking up, especially when it's the only album the group ever did. But that is exactly what the late New Orleans band the Cold (born December 1979, died June 1982) has done.
There seem to be two reasons for the release of "16 Songs off a Dead Band's Chest" (Top Pop). First, an LP was something the Cold never got to do before splitting up, since the quintet preferred to issue singles while waiting for the major-label record that never came along. Second, the album's release coincides with the band's two reunion concerts this month (on the Riverboat President on Saturday and at Jimmy's on March 24).
In the band's 2 1/2-year existence, it brought a new sense of purpose and definition to the New
Orleans band scene. Certainly one thing the Cold proved was that a group of relatively untrained musicians could, with a lot of work, match their uncompromising affection for certain (60s pop) styles with a surprising degree of musical precision.
With that accomplished, it constantly appeared that the band was on the verge of breaking out of the local scene. Surely at times it seemed that at any minute the right contract and the right producer were about to sweep them into the world of big-time pop music and high finance. In the end, those hopes were dashed when internal squabbles brought a halt to their brief career.
Thankfully, "16 Songs" doesn't try to present a history of the Cold. Most of their regional hit singles are included, but there is enough previously unreleased material (an entire side recorded live) to qualify the album as a semi-documentary.
The studio side includes that blast from the summer of 1980, "You", the Cold's first single and the one that put the band on the map when seemingly every rock station in the area added the song to its playlist. The band's follow-ups, "Mesmerized" and "Thanks a Lot" are also included, but there are surprising finds among the songs that were recorded in the band's rehearsal studio.
The album leads off with "Come on Over", an item from the group's session in Austin, TX which produced its final single "Do the Dance"/"Missing Hit Man" (two tunes which aren't included here). "Come on Over" was a Normals song written by Charlie Hanson and the Cold's Chris Luckette. When he was with the Normals, Luckette sang it, but this version features a Barbara Menendez lead vocal. This version forgoes the crunching metal sound of the Normals for a more vocally oriented approach. With guitarists Bert Smith and Kevin Radecker choosing not to mimic the Normals crunch, the song's finish pales a bit compared to the original. However, such differences probably won't matter much to anyone not familiar with the Normals.
Elsewhere, Smith's terse, literary songwriting style is featured on "Russian Around", which is patterned loosely on "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (with some offbeat international political references) and "Thanks a Lot", whose suicide references briefly worried the group. They thought such a subject might jeopardize the tune's hit potential.
Also included are the endearingly Squeeze-like "Working Girl", the little-heard "Modern Beat" and the diffuse but passionate girl-pop of "Seems Like Forever."
The live side is taken from the band's final concert, on the Riverboat President on June 18, 1982. The quality of playing is high, at times almost desperately effective.
The opening "Bernadette" sounds thinly recorded, with the vocals on the muffled side. But that soon changes to a side of the band that often went unrecognized: "I Don’t Want to Talk" may be the best heavy metal ever recorded by a New Orleans band. It's a Radecker song, and in a way it matches the vocal desperation of, say, U2, with the ferocity of Larry Wallis' Psychedelic Rowdies.
It's followed by the instrumental "Amour Galore", a wonderful bit of healthy noise wherein the guitars are simply wicked and metallic. Radecker and Smith fortunately held to the belief that heavy metal is best heard in short bursts rather than in the cat-squeal and buzzsaw-drone style that most heavy-metal bands stretch over several hundred bars with dreadful monotony.
The remainder of the album is a brusque romp consisting of "I’m Serious", "Ugly Shadow", the "Green Slime" theme, Luckette's "Hot Ride" and a not-quite-2-minute version of "Downtown".
The live side shows how 2 1/2 years of steady work honed the group's ensemble punch. "16 Songs" may not be the album that the Cold always wanted, but it's the only one their fans will ever get. And they'd better get it soon, since only 1000 copies have been pressed.
Cold body
by
Vincent Fumar (3/16/84) Times-Picayune
Few rock bands can claim the distinction of releasing an album nearly two years after breaking up, especially when it's the only album the group ever did. But that is exactly what the late New Orleans band the Cold (born December 1979, died June 1982) has done.
There seem to be two reasons for the release of "16 Songs off a Dead Band's Chest" (Top Pop). First, an LP was something the Cold never got to do before splitting up, since the quintet preferred to issue singles while waiting for the major-label record that never came along. Second, the album's release coincides with the band's two reunion concerts this month (on the Riverboat President on Saturday and at Jimmy's on March 24).
In the band's 2 1/2-year existence, it brought a new sense of purpose and definition to the New
Orleans band scene. Certainly one thing the Cold proved was that a group of relatively untrained musicians could, with a lot of work, match their uncompromising affection for certain (60s pop) styles with a surprising degree of musical precision.
With that accomplished, it constantly appeared that the band was on the verge of breaking out of the local scene. Surely at times it seemed that at any minute the right contract and the right producer were about to sweep them into the world of big-time pop music and high finance. In the end, those hopes were dashed when internal squabbles brought a halt to their brief career.
Thankfully, "16 Songs" doesn't try to present a history of the Cold. Most of their regional hit singles are included, but there is enough previously unreleased material (an entire side recorded live) to qualify the album as a semi-documentary.
The studio side includes that blast from the summer of 1980, "You", the Cold's first single and the one that put the band on the map when seemingly every rock station in the area added the song to its playlist. The band's follow-ups, "Mesmerized" and "Thanks a Lot" are also included, but there are surprising finds among the songs that were recorded in the band's rehearsal studio.
The album leads off with "Come on Over", an item from the group's session in Austin, TX which produced its final single "Do the Dance"/"Missing Hit Man" (two tunes which aren't included here). "Come on Over" was a Normals song written by Charlie Hanson and the Cold's Chris Luckette. When he was with the Normals, Luckette sang it, but this version features a Barbara Menendez lead vocal. This version forgoes the crunching metal sound of the Normals for a more vocally oriented approach. With guitarists Bert Smith and Kevin Radecker choosing not to mimic the Normals crunch, the song's finish pales a bit compared to the original. However, such differences probably won't matter much to anyone not familiar with the Normals.
Elsewhere, Smith's terse, literary songwriting style is featured on "Russian Around", which is patterned loosely on "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (with some offbeat international political references) and "Thanks a Lot", whose suicide references briefly worried the group. They thought such a subject might jeopardize the tune's hit potential.
Also included are the endearingly Squeeze-like "Working Girl", the little-heard "Modern Beat" and the diffuse but passionate girl-pop of "Seems Like Forever."
The live side is taken from the band's final concert, on the Riverboat President on June 18, 1982. The quality of playing is high, at times almost desperately effective.
The opening "Bernadette" sounds thinly recorded, with the vocals on the muffled side. But that soon changes to a side of the band that often went unrecognized: "I Don’t Want to Talk" may be the best heavy metal ever recorded by a New Orleans band. It's a Radecker song, and in a way it matches the vocal desperation of, say, U2, with the ferocity of Larry Wallis' Psychedelic Rowdies.
It's followed by the instrumental "Amour Galore", a wonderful bit of healthy noise wherein the guitars are simply wicked and metallic. Radecker and Smith fortunately held to the belief that heavy metal is best heard in short bursts rather than in the cat-squeal and buzzsaw-drone style that most heavy-metal bands stretch over several hundred bars with dreadful monotony.
The remainder of the album is a brusque romp consisting of "I’m Serious", "Ugly Shadow", the "Green Slime" theme, Luckette's "Hot Ride" and a not-quite-2-minute version of "Downtown".
The live side shows how 2 1/2 years of steady work honed the group's ensemble punch. "16 Songs" may not be the album that the Cold always wanted, but it's the only one their fans will ever get. And they'd better get it soon, since only 1000 copies have been pressed.
