Coming ashore with the second wave of Vancouver new wave punk, the Modernettes really hit some high points but, like Icarus flying too near the sun, they burned out quickly.
It wasn't long before the Modernettes became known as a brilliant pop punk combo, delivering some truly great songs.
Led by Buck Cherry(John Armstrong) and backed by Mary Jo Kopechne and Jughead on bass and drums, the Modernettes had a distinct personality and style that wasn't just a copy of the latest band of yobs from the U.K.
Listen to the rawness and pure ecstatic melody of: "Teen City", "Suicide Club" and "Rebel Kind" and of course, what should have been a smash hit, "Babra." Then check out the melancholy of "Confidential."
Then you will see some of the best pop/punk/new wane to emerge from the early eighties.
Pure fun, pure craziness, pure teen angst, purely worth owning, another retro release from Sudden Death Records that you don't want to miss.
About 10 years ago, Zulu Records first issued ‘Get It Straight’, an anthology of early 80s power-pop-punk from Vancouver’s Modernettes, who for a while now, I’ve been calling the best band to ever come from Canada.
The CD’s been out of print since then, and is now back thanks to Sudden Death Records. For those unfamiliar with the band, the Modernettes released three records in their short existence – the utterly fantastic ‘Teen City’ 12”EP, the mega rare ‘Gone…But Not Forgiven’ LP (a collection of demos and live tracks), and the more radio friendly ‘View From the Bottom’ 12”EP.
This disc starts off with all six tracks from ‘Teen City’, a fucking classic record that no discerning pop loving punk should go without hearing. Songs like ‘Barbra’ and ‘Teen City’ are pure pop perfection with hooks galore and feature extremely well played, driving guitars, a pummelling rhythm section, and singer Buck Cherry’s playful yet haunting voice.
Bob Rock co-produced these songs and amazingly he doesn’t fuck them up as he did with the Pointed Sticks. The three songs included from the ‘Gone…’ LP (only 300 copies pressed) show the band leaving a bit of their punk edge behind and slowing down the tempo a bit, except for ‘Won’t Have to Worry’ which is a fast one that’s right up there on my list of all time favourite songs. It’s a two-minute lesson in how to write a perfect pop song and Buck’s vocal delivery never sounds better than it does here.
The five songs from ‘View From the Bottom’ (including ‘Rebel Kind’, covered by The Fevers on their first single) were recorded around two years after the first two records and the change in sound is quite drastic. The production is crisp and ultra clean, the songs are even slower, and nary a punk influence is heard. I still like these songs, but if you can’t stand the wimpy stuff, you probably won’t. Two of the songs are sung quite well by bassist Mary-Jo Kopechne and they make me wonder why her vocals weren’t used more often, even in a backup roll.
Up next are five live songs, the highlights being ‘Surf City Strangler’, which has an early Replacements vibe and the Modern Lovers-esque ‘Get it Straight’. Mega fans of the band should note that this re-issue is slightly different than the Zulu comp. The Zulu edition was started off by ‘Sweater Girl’, a rather weak track, and ended with a 1995 recorded version of ‘Tears Will Fall’ which sounded like a Bon Jovi outtake. Wisely, this re-issue scraps ‘Sweater Girl’ and although it still includes a version of ‘Tears Will Fall’, it’s from a much better session, presumably from when the band was still together (although the liner notes make no mention of this). The biggest difference is the inclusion of six live songs from the band’s last show. The sound quality is OK, but there are a fair number of fuck-ups. The two new songs from the show are actually pretty good – ‘509’ and ‘Get Modern’ - both of which were written in 1979 and went unrecorded over the band’s career.
If you’re a fan of this sort of stuff, I’d also recommend picking up a copy of John Armstrong’s (aka Buck Cherry’s) book ‘Guilty of Everything’ which, although I have my qualms about it, does a good job of describing the early Vancouver punk scene. Highly recommended.
( Jeff Greenback/Terminal Boredom)
(Sudden Death Records // www.suddendeath.com)
