To Hell with the Boys

The Boys went to tiny Hell, Norway, to record this 1979 follow-up to the brilliant Alternative Chartbusters and came up with another diverse set of musically smart, punk-spirited pop. Smart? Who else would open an album with a soaring, riff-rattled version of a tune from the ballet Gayne? And who else would namecheck dead rock-star addicts in the voice of God (!) inside a brilliantly simple song (with the three chords in the same progression throughout) and call it “Terminal Love”? The album heaves with similarly stellar moments: “You Can’t Hurt a Memory” is a piano-led Lennon dead ringer; “Lonely Cowboy” shows a punked-up penchant for Lee Hazlewood and Arizona; “Waiting for the Lady” sounds like what would happen if you crossed Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers with Queen but subtracted Freddie Mercury’s operatic dash. A gnarly sax colors the sweet drinking anthem “Kamikaze,” while “Independent Girls” closes the original album with the kind of minor-chord power pop that Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has made millions trying to do. A great album, top to bottom, back to front.