please listen to the sirens

i've never understood why tubeway army's self titled doesn't get the play it so richly deserves. maybe it's been overshadowed by their lead singer's (gary numan) success but why the hell listen to cars when you can have my love is a liquid or my shadow in vain?

the album kicks off with glam/punk infused listen to siren painting the dystopian backdrop for the album. numan's synth bobs along forebodingly as he sings "flow my tears the new police song / the slogan of peace is you must live / they've got me and i'm one of them." living in economically depressed england probably wasn't a far stretch from the 1984esque world numan was writing about. the band continues build up until numan sings "but i dont mind/ i don't mind" and then they let bottom drop out of the whole world only to spring back to life with a machine gun burst from the drums and primal grunt from numan. this is really the point when you should know you're listening to a really good album.



a few songs like the life machine and friends don't really stand up on their own so much but really make the album flow. the previously mentioned my love is a liquid and every die i die are proto-new wave classics but it's really the closing track that is the record's strongest.

starting with gentle acoustic strumming jo the waiter tells the story of a man's love affair with a waiter he employees at his bar(i always felt the man may be a robot but wikipedia says i'm wrong)". one of numan's only songs to feature acoustic guitar the track eventual gives way to a manic and wiry guitar. the song builds to a crescendo before stopping on a dime without warning. it gives the album a sudden jarring end that plays well with the dystopian theme of the album. it always leaves me feeling kinda like numan's letting his own little world self destruct and self destructing in this case is what rock and roll is all about.

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