Name: The Nobodys
Album: No Guarantees
Year: 1984
Style: New Wave
Similar Bands: Bolshoi, Foreigner, Mick Smiley, Fad Gadget, Howard Jones, Talking Heads, Thomas Dolby
"One-Word" Review: Creepy-bleak-Spanish-cop-procedural-synth.
Based Out Of: LA, California
Label: Capitol, EMI
No Guarantees - Cover & Record
No Guarantees - Back & Record
No Guarantees (1984)
- No Guarantees 4:02
- I Scratch 3:14
- They Didn't Offer Me You 4:10
- Just One of Your Legs 3:13
- What Can I Do? 3:16/
- I Am Helpless Without My Computers 4:25
- Drops of Water 4:05
- The Gang on Fortune Hill 4:00
- I Don't Mind 5:20
Album Rating (1-10): 5.0
Members & Other Bands:
Safeway Goya - Vox, Producer (Squid)
Alex Blanc - Guitar, Keys, Vox (Squid, Poe)
Eric Garcia - Bass, Guitar (Poe)
Ken Ypparila - Guitar, Violin, Keys
Timex Burke - Drums (Woody Herman)
Sarco - Engineering
Sarco - Engineering
Unknown-news: I’ve
never heard of this band. I don’t remember where I picked this up, but I think
it was in a stack of thrift store records early on in my collection. Their logo
is simple and clean: white on black forms a recognizable image, with a bar
across the eyes preventing theoretical identification, to match their generic
and anonymous name. I thought the band photo on the back, even though it is a
little dark, was a good enough reason to pick up the album. 1984 was not a
strong year, but still proved to be worth a discovery for a dollar.
Album Review: The band itself produced general new wave with keys and
emotion, even rising to a level of notoriety most bands could only dream of.
Their single and album title track was featured in the movie Firstborn,
starring Peter Weller & Teri Garr in 1984 and it was in
an episode of Miami Vice (#27, "Buddies,"). Yet after the one album,
the band disbanded, and the singer (brother to bandmate Alex Blanc [de Rafols]) is now teaching Spanish
at the University of Nevada Reno, and has reverted to his original name Fred. The stage name was taken to represent his Spanish-American
roots, with the grocery store Safeway and Spanish artist Carlos Goya comprising
his background.
“No Guarantees” is the supposed
single that appeared on the big and small screens. It feels right out of Miami
Vice, and I would have probably noted it if it wasn’t true. The bouncy synth
bass has a sleek 80’s yacht wealth of a sinister kind feel to it. There is a
dark keyboard hook too that adds to the creepy underbelly of crime vibe. The
lyrics paint a sorrowful, negative picture of life and future to add to the
shady nature of the music.
“I Scratch” is a jittery synth
bass line and drum beat that is full of drive. The guitar strums and his Bob
Dylan style vocals don’t blend very well to the song style, until they become
cohesive in chorus: “I Scratch, but you don’t itch.” Again, this song, too, is kind
of creepy in production, but is much catchier than the first song. I’m reminded
of a poppier version of the song “Magic” from the Ghostbusters soundtrack that
plays after the ghosts are re-released. There are plenty of synth effects
layered over, like bells and groundswells, the bass / drum line never gives up
or changes, except for one full-stop pause.
“They Didn't Offer Me You” has an
even deeper and darker pulsating synth bass note, and it is overlaid with
optimistic twinkling synth notes. The singing is dark and monotone. A jangely
guitar picks up, and creates a bleak, tundra-like songscape. The song has a
sort of U2/Midnight Oil anthemic quality to the chorus. The song feels like it
goes on for a little too long.
“Just One of Your Legs” starts
with a synth ballad like production. I’m talking about the mid-evening slow
song at a 1986 middle school dance. This might be a Phil Collins Easy Listening
song, with a Howard Jones / Thomas Dolby delivery. Then the lyrics are creepy:
the guy just needs one leg to help him get through…something. After a minute
20, the song picks up with a steady drum beat and soaring guitar. And this
change makes the song much more enjoyable. And the song ends letting go of the
rock mid-section, and reverting back to the beginning ballad
“What Can I Do?” brings the dreamy
80’s synth love song vibe back, but couples it with a dark bass groove, and the
song transitions into a sort of salsa tempo, and is later exaggerated with Spanish
lyrics and a brass/trumpet section. The song creates a nice tempo and fun Spanish
flair, done up under a new wave bow.
“I Am Helpless Without My
Computers” has a funky groove to it, starting out with a four beat kick. This
song is a good 10 years before the internet took over all of our lives, and
before the true home application for a computer was envisioned. I remember the
Married with Children episode where the computer nearly took over AL’s life,
and he was all get off my lawn, computers are a waste of time. That was a good
5-7 years after this song. So just for that, this is a very interesting concept
and song. The execution has a bit of a choreographed dance to it, but the tempo
and outlook of the song feel quite organic and pleasant. He even references a Social
Media of sorts: “I am helpless without my computer / How Can I relate / All the
social madness / gone to waste.” The verse to chorus build up is a pretty good
build and deliver one-two punch. It is not as strong as other great example of
the anticipation and delivery song structure, but it is good. Toward the end of
the song, there is a much darker breakdown. It becomes sinister and brooding,
before it breaks free from the dark grip into the proclaiming, lighter chorus.
“Drops of Water” has a Talking
Heads dancy guitar and dark bass combo to get the song started. The guitar
balances out for the verse and is replaced by a piano as the driving melodic
force. It comes back in the bridge between verses, and is added to with other
darker synth production elements. The chorus has a light, simplistic Thomas
Dolby feel to it. There is an islander breakdown with bongos and deep synth
tones. Mixed with it is an Dark Americana guitar section, giving this song a ominous
feel. The song kind of just ends
“The Gang on Fortune Hill” starts
with Spanish guitars and feels like a folk version of a specific dance style
song. Other effects and tempos to the song give it an island feel too, but
there is a fine line between the forms. This would be the story song that would
introduce a band back out onto the stage after the full set. Low lights shining
up from behind the members through a thick veil of fog, casting big, black
shadows on the walls while the faceless figures, cast in darkness, play their
parts on stage.
“I Don't Mind” is a mix between a
cop show (LA Law) montage and a late period Talking Heads middle album track.
The song carries with it a knowing, importance, and stomps around childishly
trying to not prove its point in a straightforward fashion, but to communicate it
through osmosis. Again horns help out support the melody, as well as a lonely back-alley
sax. The song takes all these sections, and puts them on repeat, really
overstaying its welcome.
Stand-Out Track: I Am Helpless Without My Computer
No comments:
Post a Comment