Arts The Michigan Daily Saturday, August 15, 1981 Page 7 Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo-'Only a Lad' (A&M)-This record, Oingo Boingo's first album attempt, is typical of much of today's good pop music: It's fun enough that you can bop to it, but you'll never hear it on the radio. It contains ten highly craf- ted-if still highly derivative-pop songs in the technopop style of XTC. With vocalist Danny Elfman energetically leading the way, the band moves smoothly through each of the songs. If anything, they are too smooth. Elfman's often erratic vocal inflec- tions-nicely combining Buddy Holly's hiccups with David Byrne's paranoia-are in need of more than a tight rhythm backing. Occasionally he gets the boost needed, as in the song "On the Outside," in which a delightfully spontaneous sax break is justified by its incongruity to the rest of the song. But such moments are sadly few. RATHER THAN solo instrumentation, the emphasis lies on Elfman alter- nately screaming, crooning, and spitting out exclamations. And he does this ef- fectively, considering the often predictable lyrics. The most curious lyrical tid- bits on the album are those that seem to be aiming for a Moral Majority audience. The most memorable song, "Capitalism," begins "There's nothing wrong with capitalism . . ." and continues by berating those who "criticize with plenty of vigor": You're just a middle-class socialist brat From a suburban family and you never really had to work They use similar reasoning in the title song, a philippic on a "juvenile gangster" who is repeatedly acquitted because "society made him go astray." Just so the listener won't miss the point, the song ends with an exclamatory "I hope you fry!" directed towards the "lad." You probably won't agree with their opinions but at least they have better conversational potential than rock lobsters and cars. The record also contains a nice attempt at covering "You Really Got Me," but the hypnotic effect they are striving for does not catch on and the song tends toward monotony. But if you've already begun dancing, you won't notice. This is characteristic of most of Only a Lad, certain parts may tend to slip off, but the beat still goes on. -Tony Corbeill The Pretenders 'Pretenders 11' (Sire) What this album does is establish Chrissie Hynde as the first woman to beat the Paul Rodgers and Robert Plants of rock at their own game. Much of this record unveils a female version of macho rock that more than equals the sonic impact of heavy metal without sacrificing musical in- novation. Though rooted ina blues-based rock tradition, The Pretenders are not afraid of trying more esoteric metersorproduction techniques. Not only are they more open-minded musically, Hynde's lyrics possess the rarest commodity in "hard rock": intelligence. WHEN WAS THE last time sexual insinuations in a rock song didn't insult your intelligence? When was the last time that it was actually exciting? To me, this whole school has been more or less an embarrassment for years, but on Pretenders II, Hynde and company make it all seem new again. Songs like "The Adultress" or "Bad Boys Get Spanked," though sexually ex- plicit, come off sounding simply honest, without the usual braggart's stance. Even the played out theme of life on the road is expressed in "Pack it Up" with such a whimsical candor that one forgets all the years of cliches. And, of course, almost every song works as pure dance music. "Message of Love" recreates heavy metal as soul music, and "Louie Louie" (not the famous sixties hit) with its frantic beat and Memphis horns is the perfect rocker to end a record. So what we have here is simply the best record of the year. If I were pressed to criticize it I could only say that it should have been a two-record set. We'll have to wait until The Pretenders appear this Tuesday and Wednesday at Royal Oak Music Theater in Detroit to see if they can also put on the best concert of the year. -Ken Feldman WHATARE YOU WAITING FOR Subscribe to The Daily! Call 764-0558 or 764-0560 tay! ANN ARBOR GOLD AND SILVER EXCHANGE 216 S. Fourth Ave. 996-9059 ' WE BUY WANTED OLD ROOM OM s POCKET Any Item Marked 10 kt - 14 kt - 18 kt WATCHES DENTAL GOLD FOREIGN GOLD GOLD METALS CLASS RINGS WEDDING BANDS EYEGLASS FRAMES GOLD COINS GOLD PINS GOLD CUFF LINKS DIAMONDS BROKEN JEWELRY SLE W PurDIAnMONDshape GOLD WATCHES +c SILVER We po'chstnyloi o* twy hpe GOLD CHAINSa e CSt s Jewryn dtri We pay by weight Hours: Mon thru Sat. 9:00 AM5;500 PM $ fe cerjfie lescj r . I . . e '. t 4 - I I Ig .I - , I I i.