Record Review

Bang, The Earth Is Round

(DGC/MCA) ***

If you've been mourning the dearth of quirky, whimsical instrumentation and wordplay characterized by the early work of such groups as XTC, 10CC, and Talking Heads, then L.A.'s The Sugarplastic rides to the rescue.

Fascinating entries like "Sheep" and "Don't Sleep" sound like a group of dyslexic pop-rockers trying to work out covers of 10CC hits "The Wall Street Shuffle" and "Art For Art's Sake" by way of Talking Head's "Psycho Killer" and losing themselves down some odd avenues along the way.

Other memorable tracks bridge the gap between "Making Plans For Nigel" and "Dear God"-era XTC with some of the slickest twists that Andy Partridge never wrote. "Montebello" starts off on a wired, itching-powder riff and rhythm before veering off to a beautiful cascading chorus intoning the title over an attractive, heraldic horn signature; "Polly Brown" frames a typical romantic ode in an electro-Asian kimono of sound.

While the childlike "Little Teeth" is disarmingly amiable ("Little teeth, little teeth, it's a wonder you can eat/Throw your food upon the floor, mash it up with your feet"), the battery levels for "Bang, The Earth Is Round" flag slightly towards the end with a turn towards Brian Wilson-like whimsy ("Say Katie" and "Ohio") that is not the group's strongest suit.

The Sugarplastic may not offer a particularly original voice, but given the group's current near-monopoly on this neglected set of influences, "Bang" fires off an interesting diversion.

-Roch Parisien

Copyright 1996 Rocon Communications \010101 Productions Limited - All Rights Reserved