Customer Reviews

Love Junk

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend of mine recently quipped "Hmmm, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn... Canadians make great folk music, but how many good Canadian *rock* artists have there been, other than Rush? Bryan Adams? Corey Hart?" Well, here's my answer. TPOH never really hit it big, but they really should have, especially with this album. Moe Berg and friends took some fairly obvious cues from Todd Rundgren's early '80s work with Utopia, fattened it up to a later '80s sound, and pulled off some killer hooks and melodies. Rundgren produced this album, of course, and it has his signature densely-layered feel. Check out the perfectly-layered background vocals on Ten Fingers and When the Sky Comes Falling Down, the hilariously candid lyrics of Looking for Girls and I'm An Adult Now, the driving polyrhythms of Walking in the Woods, the expansive, almost-prog-like Tree of Knowledge, and the near-perfect Rubber-Soul era Beatle imitation She's So Young. This is the '80s mega-hit that never was. Crank it up.

Throughout my life I have tended to ignore my older albums in my constant quest for new music. Love Junk by TPOH has always been exception. I thought there must be something wrong with me because I kept going back to listen to this one. In my opinion this may be one of the most unfairly ignored albums of all time. I am glad to see that there are a few others out there who share my opinion. My personal favorites on this album are "Man's Best Friend", "Hard To Laugh", "Beautiful White", and "I'm An Adult Now".

I guess TPOH could've been North America's answer to the Hoodoo Gurus. I mean hey, they were catchy as heck and they rocked. Unfortunately,like those Aussies, they were also too smart and funny for the mainstream, but a little too mainstream for the edgy crowd,and those that remember their 15 minutes of mainstream fame back in the late fall of '88, probably think they were a novelty band.

Which is a shame, as the totally awesome "Love Junk" amply displays. It contains the closest thing the band ever had to a hit "I'm An Adult Now." With its half-sung, half-spoken lyrics, humorous outlook and over the top guitars, it comes off as something as a gag--sort of a thinking man's take on "Fight For Your Right To Party." Yet, behind it all are lyrics that ring increasingly true the older you get. For this aging rocker the song was great when I was 18, better when I was 28 and, I suspect, will be more meaningful yet when I turn 38 next year. The only downer about it is I can never find it at a Karaoke bar.

Its also a shame that few dug deeper than the one track, as several others, especially the power pop gem "She's So Young" are completely excellent. They're convincing on both the ballads and the harder stuff (especially lead track "Hard To Laugh") and the entire album features really sweet boy/girl harmonies. Todd Rundgren's production polishes things to a super-glossy sheen, but those production values have held upper better than a lot of other stuff from the era and the album still sounds quite fresh today.

Even if you don't listen to loud music anymore, its more than worth your time and money to get reacquainted with this one.

So I'm going through my old CD collection and loading songs up on my 40 gig (every song you could possibly want) monster, and I pull this disc out for the first time in at least 5 years. What a revelation. I put every song except "Killed by Love" on the I-Pod. I haven't done that with too many discs. Along with really catchy power pop tunes; there are brilliant lyrics throughout. "I'm an adult now" was the single and it is a great song, but it is far from being the standout cut."She's so young", "Conciousness raising as a social tool", and "Beautiful White" are my 3 faves. The chorus of "She's so young" is classic. "She's so young , she' got the answers. She doesn't need to question herself like I do." As my child grows into a teenager that line will begin to take on a different meaning than it did the first time I heard fifteen or so years ago. Whatever happened to these guys anyway? Great group.

I got this CD back in '89 (when hair metal bands and NKOTB had a lock on the charts) and was thoroughly blown away. Smart songwriting, great hooks and some awesome harmonies dominate this release. It's hard to single out any one song as a high or low point as this is a very consistantly good CD. The thing that is baffling is that this album should have stormed the charts over here but it didn't even make a dent. It did go platinum in Canada but I think it just barely made gold status here (Gold hasn't really meant anything since the early eighties) if that. What makes that weirder is that everyone I played this to loved it right away (and alot of them were into the hair bands) and promptly asked "How come I've never heard of them?" As far as I know this album had little to no promotion here in the states which is too bad (subsequent albums got even less attention) as I think this would be regarded as a classic power pop album by now... It is to me. Sadly, with the lack of sales, this means that all their releases are out of print (although I think that this one is still available in Canada) which in turn means that finding their stuff may be a chore as I have never seen anything in the used bins (Probably easier in the big cities). But the reward from this album is worth the search. Their second, "One Sided Story", is only a half step behind "Love Junk". "The Downward Road" (Their third) while good, lacks the spark of the first two and can be a bit depressing in comparison but is still worth looking for. Never heard the last two so I can't comment on them. Now, start digging.

A great state-side debut from this fine band. Moe Berg really shows his songwriting skills, even if the songs don't deviate much from sex and relationships. Most of these songs will have you humming in no time flat.

TPOH were alternative before there was such a term. And as such I have more time for them than anything else released that would come under such a banner. They also sit in the power pop category nicely due to their sprightly rock 'n' roll with guitar solos and Moe Bergs energetic delivery. And there is more than just a touch of Cheap Trick with this mob - the whole comedy rock and amusing anecdotes bombarding the listener with good time vibes.

This album starts off with Hard to Laugh, a fun rocker despite being about some guy complaining about his girlfriend. And that is actually fairly typical for the album. But the bands buoyant delivery and the tidy production job makes it possible for quirky, depressing or strangely touching topics to be fun to listen to. And that is a real accomplishment by the bands main man, Moe Berg, who is the sole songwriter on this release.

Looking back on this album before putting my fingers to the keyboard it's interesting how well this album has weathered the passing years. Sure, if it's metal your after, go elsewhere, but if your in the right mood this album can still provide a fun listen. It may not cure world poverty but even after all the music that has passed through my ears personal teenage anthems like I'm An Adult Now and Looking for Girls still put a smile on my dial.

Fans of Cheap Trick (their funny bits) should give this mob a look - and also any fans of AOR who might be after something a little more whimsical and less tear jerking should also give this disc a listen. It's a very good starting point to explore this band as some of their later albums such as Wheres the Bone are a little more understated and more focussed on Moe Berts vocals to the detriment of the band feeling present on this album.

Highly recommended rock 'n' roll.

Tornoto based band The Pursuit Of Happiness debuted with "Love Junk" #93, in 1988. Led by vocalist and guitarist Moe Berg who wrote all their wild and funny songs! This album would really be their only great album, because after this one they just couldn't repeat what they did here. With rockin' tunes like, "Hard To Laugh","Beautiful White", "Looking For Girls", "Killed By Love", "Ten Fingers", "Consciousness Raising As A Social Tool", the cult classic "I'm An Adult Now" #22 mainstream rock, the rhythmic rocker "Walking In The Woods", the Utopian-Rundgren flavored tunes "Down On Him", "She's So Young" and "Man's Best Friend". This album was produced by Todd Rundgren.
And they had a few poppish sounding songs in "Tree Of Knowledge" and "When The Sky Comes Falling Down". Every song is a winner, they put so much effort into this one, they really couldn't recapture the formula, the closest they came was on "Downward Road".

The Band:
Moe Berg- lead vocals,guitars
David Gilby- drums
Johnny Sinclair-bass
Kris Abbott-guitars,vocals
Leslie Stanwyck- vocals

I've just recently gotten into TPOH after finding their two prime works (this and "The Downward Road") in the bargain bin at my local record store. I like "The Downward Road" a lot but this, their debut, is the one to hear first. There are so many dynamic, pop-rocking tunes on this album it's hard to know where to start. My favorites include "Beautiful White" and "Consciousness Raising as a Social Tool" (gotta love that title) but there are no dud tracks here. TPOH are generous in that we get 13 tracks on this album and 16 on "The Downward Road". This is hard candy pop with a soft center. Blazing guitars, oddball lyrics, and great harmonies from the two female vocalists make this band's music special. This band reminds me of The Posies, another band that had 3 major label releases, but started out and finished up on indie labels. Sweet melodies are at the forefront of both band's music. I've got "She's So Young" dancing in my head right now. The album is from 1988 yet it doesn't sound dated like most music from that time period does. "Love Junk" is a masterpiece of great songwriting, brilliant melodies, and punchy rock and roll.

Had a tape of this some time ago; made the mistake of putting my tape holder over the gas tank on a long drive when I moved. The tape actually melted into the the back of tape holder. Had trouble finding the CD of it in stores; fortunately I found it here. So what do I actually think about it?

Minor late 80's classic by another great Canadain export; aggressive guitar hooks, quirky lyrics sung with abandon by Moe Berg and beautiful accompaniment by Kris Abbott & Leslie Stanwyck, all done to a boppin beat. Power pop at its finest.