100 Flowers

100 Flowers' sole album still sounds brilliant after all these years. Not sounding dated in the least, its blend of minimal rock, subtle pop hooks, and flat-out energy could have been recorded yesterday. The band are unafraid to throw some sharp hipswinging into the mix, as the funky groove of "All Sexed Up" shows early on the first side, and at times they deliver songs that last barely a minute or more. With this album, the trio made a successful switch from their punky Urinals days to something that sounded like Wire (but with a little less worry over sounding arty) or Gang of Four (but with less hang-ups about life) but, either way, was definitely its own thing. Talley-Jones uses his high-pitched vocals to great effect throughout, projecting where it needs it, like on the tight punch of "Our Fallout," or holding back to produce a more subtle effect, as on the nervy highlight "Strip Club." Johansen gets to sing on a few songs, including "Pressing the Point," while unexpected touches like the squealing electronics on the taut blast of "Horizontal" add just the right wild cards to the overall approach. Songs like "I Don't Own My Own Heart," with its neat blend of rock drive, ringing guitars, and hard-to-decipher lyrics, help show why the band could be called the closest thing to a West Coast R.E.M. Featuring a tense, trebly take on the old classic "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," 100 Flowers remains a great lost classic of American underground rock.