Punk fans couldn't have imagined the results when Dead
Boys vocalist Stiv Bators joined forces with Sham 69's guitarist (Dave
Parsons), bassist Dave Tregunna, and drummer Rick Goldstein in 1980. They
certainly couldn't have foreseen this Blade Runner-style concept album about a
teenager who stumbles onto an ex-CIA agent's tapes about who really runs world
affairs (as "Dr. Beter" details). The sound is gutsy pop-punk built
around razor-sharp guitars, but creative touches abound, including acoustic
guitars, layered backing vocals, lush synthesizers, and even strings
("Fanfare for 1984"). "No Dreams" lays out an agenda that
would loom large in Stivs' next band, The Lords of the New Church
("Corporation/government, they're run by the same"). "Take Them
and Break Them" and "It's All the Same" express a similarly
bleak world view. "It's a Little Bit Frightening" slams people's
indifference to what's happening around them, only apathy's never sounded this
catchy. The concept is seamless enough to include a punchy, rocked-up version
of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'," which neatly upholds Stivs'
garage roots. "Ready to Snap" and "Can't Take You Anymore"
find the album's teen hero weary of fighting the good fight, only to embrace
the system he struggled to beat. Judging by the sombre balladry of "Sold
Your Soul for Fame," and "There'll Be No Tomorrow," the world's
not any better off. Needless to say, there's plenty to think about here, but
the audience didn't get it; the album tanked and the Wanderers crumbled in
1981. The band left a work that's remembered as a transition into Stivs' Lords
of the New Church era, but that's unfair. There's sophistication unthinkable in
the Dead Boys or Sham 69 days; this album's miles ahead of both, and worth
another listen.
