10 Forgotten Punk Albums You Need To Redisover
1. The Brains - The Brains
Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, The Brains have a sound that’s completely out of time. Produced by former U2 desk jockey Steve Lillywhite, there’s an electronic sheen that harks back to Kraftwerk, and a sneering delivery from singer Tom Gray that was the style of their debut’s 1980 release, but the songcraft is bizarre, brilliant, and instantly captivating.
Their debut (one of only two) is too idiosyncratic in sound to have been a huge seller, though it did spawn “Money Changes Everything”, covered by Cyndi Lauper and many others.
They can turn up the volume on “Raeline”, with its breakneck pace and pounding drums, morph into a new wave Stooges on the grinding “In The Night”, or pull out a plaintive anthem in the lovely closer “Gold Dust Kids”, complete with an instrumental glam rock middle 8.
While the tracks are disparate, the whole album is drenched in punk guitars and attitude that bridges the gap between the ‘70s and ‘80s waves. It didn’t shift too many copies, but it’s an incredible collection of songs and ideas.