{"id":25524,"date":"2023-06-25T05:30:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T09:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25524"},"modified":"2023-06-25T10:06:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T14:06:46","slug":"album-review-lloyds-attitude-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/25\/album-review-lloyds-attitude-check\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Lloyds \u2013 Attitude Check"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>San Francisco of the late 1970s and early- to mid-\u201980s was home to a thriving new music scene. In those days before the internet, local scenes existed somewhat independently of one another; if you read Trouser Press<\/i> or New York Rocker<\/i>, you might know a thing or two about what was going on musically elsewhere in the country (and beyond), but for the most part, what happened in [fill in the blank] stayed in [fill in the blank], even if you didn\u2019t want it to.<\/p>\n

That reality helps explain why Lloyds will be all but unknown to listeners who weren\u2019t in the Bay Area during that period. They built a following, and even opened for Journey (as a photo in the package of this new set proves). The band\u2019s sound was very much a mainstream new wave kind of character; the songs sound like they wold have fit neatly on any of Rhino\u2019s retrospective DIY compilations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd That\u2019s Why (I Don\u2019t Like You)\u201d has that propulsive, gleaming style that served so many early MTV-era acts so well. Peppy handclaps, stuttering guitar and an appealing lead vocal from the mononymous Lulu all should have added up to some kind of commercial breakthrough. The band even self-produced the single, which demonstrates that they really knew what they were doing.<\/p>\n

They had the material, too: as the new Liberation Hall compilation Attitude <\/i>Check<\/i> shows, Lloyds wrote their own material, and it\u2019s solid of-its-time stuff. But during the band\u2019s time together (1979-84), they seem to have only released one EP, a four-song 12\u201d from 1984. Three of the titles on that record are included on this new set, but it\u2019s not clear if they\u2019re the same recordings. With a musical personality not miles away from Scandal, Lloyds should have caught on a bigger way.<\/p>\n

In 2022, a vinyl album appeared. Let\u2019s Go Lloyds!<\/i> featured 13 studio tracks that showcased the group\u2019s versatility and spirit. The songs are varied, with a tough, sassy feel buoyed by tight arrangements and ace production. Other than the occasional pig-squeal guitar lick on tunes like \u201cUp on the Wire,\u201d the sound is pretty timeless.<\/p>\n

The entirety of that vinyl-only release is reprised on this new set, appended here by seven live tracks. Those onstage recordings are part of the Terry Hammer archive; Hammer expertly captured the sound and character of San Francisco\u2019s new wave scene, mixing and broadcasting in real time on local radio. And he save the paes, providing an important service for Bay Area (and beyond) music lovers.<\/p>\n

Hammer\u2019s recordings strip away whatever studio polish the Bay Area might\u2019ve had, documenting what they really sounded like. And in the case of Lloyds, their onstage sound was every bit the equal of those rocking studio tapes. Anyone who appreciates the no-filigree end of that era\u2019s new wave scene will want to hear the studio cuts, and these live recordings help complete the picture.<\/p>\n