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THE KNACK
Get The Knack/But The Little Girls Understand/Round Trip (Capitol Records)
Reviewed by Alan Wright
These are remastered reissue versions of the first three original Knack LPs. The Knack took a lot of beating from critics, both mainstream and in the underground press for being Beatles copyists, or crassly commercial. While it's certainly true that they were a pop band, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for them. To this day, I still consider their first album a powerpop classic. I mean, "My Sharona" aside - and I actually like that song - the album is filled with excellent, catchy, energetic songs like "Let Me Out," "Your Number Or Your Name," "The Money And Me," "Oh Tara," "She's So Selfish" and more. Then, of course, there's "Good Girls Don't," a totally sexist boy fantasy song, but it sure appealed to me when I was 13! Plus, it has the great line edited/changed for radio airplay, "when she's sitting on your face..." I also love their cover of Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat." The whole record has a delightful sense of urgency, having been cut in a relatively short time and with minimal studio overdubs. The reissue adds some bonus tracks, none of which are a big deal: a cover of a Springsteen song, songwriting demo versions of "Maybe Tonight," "That's What The Little Girls Do" and "My Sharona," and a pretty cover of Nick Lowe's "I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock and Roll)."
On their second album, the title of which was a stab at critics and taken from the Willie Dixon song "Backdoor Man," the Knack went for a slightly rawer sound, still utilizing producer Mike Chapman (Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Blondie, etc.). They cut it mostly live in the studio, without even doing overdubs on some songs, in an even shorter time than the first album - seven days! Besides the "My Sharona" follow-up "Baby Talks Dirty," there are plenty of other cool songs. "I Want Ya" and "It's You" burst with powerpop energy. "You Can't Put A Price On Love" slows things down for a nice ballad. "Hold ON Tight And Don't Let Go" and the Yardbirds-tribute "Having A Rave-Up" betray an allegiance to '50s rock n' roll. "End Of The game," played at breakneck speed and with tasty slide guitar somehow mixes punk energy with the sound of earthly '70s Stones. "End Of The Game" is a fab Spector pastiche, replete with sleigh bells and that unmistakable Spector-ish drum sound. The original album ended off with possibly one of the saddest songs I've ever heard, the somber "How Can Love So Much." On this expanded reissue, two live covers featuring Ray Manzarek are added: "Soul Kitchen" and "Moon Of Alabama." Plus, there's the unreleased song "Revenge," an acidic attack on those who've done one wrong, and the great Del Shannon-inspired "Daughter Of The Law," which has a real '60s punk edge to it as well, just like some of Del's rawer '60s sides!
Round Trip, the band's third and final LP (before reforming in the '90s of course), is often unfairly knocked, and was pretty much ignored by the general public. A shame, really, because it's actually a really adventurous album. It's kind of like their version of Rubber Soul, Aftermath or Something Else by The Kinks. Going beyond the standard guitar/bass/drums sound of their first two LPs, they brought in mellotrons, organs, strings, horns, sitar, and who knows what else, plus they even got Flo and Eddie (the Turtles) in on background vocals. From the opening psychedelicized sounds of "Radiating Love" to the Rand B flavored "Soul Kissin'" and jazzy "Africa" (okay, maybe this one sounds a little too close to Traffic) to the straight-forward powerpop rocking of "She Likes The Beat" and "Boys Go Crazy." Then there's more swirly '60s punk-psych in "We Are Waiting" and "Just Wait And See." "Pay The Devil" adds pedal steel and a mournful harmonica for a great country ballad to the band's expanding range of sounds here. "Art War" really packs a punch, too, with its hilarious lyrics and punkish sound. Bonus tracks include the unreleased "Go Away, Stay Away," a good pop song, a live version of "Little Cal's Big Mistake" (probably my least fave song though), different versions of "Art War" and "Pay The Devil," and the unreleased and much heavier hard rock sound of "On The Beach."
© 2003 - Alan Wright