Reviews

Different Class

Jeff Hill Band The Pathway Tapes 1977 EP

The JEFF HILL BAND were a power pop three-piece based in London during the late ’70s, fronted by the eponymous Jeff Hill. They released only one single during their brief existence, 1979’s “Something’s Wrong With My Baby.” The four songs featured on The Pathway Tapes were originally recorded for the Chiswick label in 1979, and here they’ve been released at long last by Lisbon’s Different Class, who have done God’s work in unearthing several similar forgotten punk/garage/power pop groups over the years. Despite forming in the UK, the JEFF HILL BAND has a decidedly American (and specifically New York) flavor, sounding more akin to MILK ‘N’ COOKIES than the JAM. While there’s nothing revelatory about this lost EP, it did endear itself to me after several listens. By-the-numbers late ’70s power pop isn’t always enough to thrill me, but the songs here are sweet, simple, and toe-tappingly infectious. Won’t change your life, but it’s hard to dislike!

Jeff Hill Band Entertainment for the Fun Generation LP

I’m just a few songs in, and I can tell you what these guys are about: these guys are about super melodic pop music. It’s very much got that feel of power pop from the early ’80s. And whether the sound is pop or power pop, the influence is clearly the pop music of the ’60s with all sorts of different genres represented, including doo wop and surf. I like it. I like it a bunch. Fourteen songs is a lot on one album for me. My magic number is ten. And I like songs to almost always be less than two-and-a-half minutes.

Randy Savages / Razor Kids split EP

Split EPs are a funny thing to me. I’m always trying to figure out how or why someone decided that the two bands should be on the same record. Holds true for this one. Both bands deliver two winners each, but I’m scratching my head trying to figure out why they’re on the same record. RANDY SAVAGES (UK) bring us two rockers that are heavy on the power pop and on the rock’n’roll. Mid-tempo and super catchy, I immediately thought of the REDUCERS, a band I listened to back in the ’80s/’90s. RAZOR KIDS (Portugal) also bring it, with two very different cuts. Musically, track one sounds like it could have been a long-lost RAMONES cut. The competing male/female vocals transform it into something completely different. And their second cut has a herky-jerkiness that reminds me of KLEENEX. Two very different songs. And two very different bands, but I’m not going to complain when someone gives me a 7” record that has four winners on it. 

V/A News From Another Side LP

Records like this are a funny thing to me—I’m not sure what these bands have that brings them together. COLERA is a Brazilian hardcore band that has been around since the late ’70s (I thought it was the early ’80s, but I was wrong). They get seven songs, some new, some not. RAZOR KIDS are from Scotland, I believe they’ve been around for a bit. They get four cuts. Lastly, the ZIPS are a relatively new Portuguese band. They get three tracks. If you know COLERA, you’ll know what to expect. Classic South American hardcore. Fairly catchy, straightforward. It’s what you’d expect from them. I reviewed the RAZOR KIDS late last year on another weird split EP. They deliver four solid cuts of COCK SPARRER-inspired Oi!. And the ZIPS play super-melodic, mid-tempo power pop, and they do it very nicely. Still a head-scratcher as to how these three ended up on the same record, but I’ll take it.