Another Minute

The Sacramento-based duo Cause & Effect released its debut album Another Minute in 1991. Actually a slightly reconfigured version of an earlier independent release, Another Minute owes much of its sound to brooding, synth-rock pioneers such as Depeche Mode. Vocalist and guitarist Robert Rowe and musician and producer Sean Rowley manage to incorporate actual melody into the songs on Another Minute. Unfortunately, the amateurish production makes the material sound lifeless. Songs like "Echoing Green" and "Farewell to Arms" are underarranged and sluggish, and even up-tempo tunes like "Nothing Comes to Mind" drag. Two tracks from the original independent release (titled simply Cause and Effect, released on Elite Records) appear on Another Minute in remixed versions; not surprisingly, "You Think You Know Her" (a Depeche sound-alike that went Top 40 in 1992) and the New Order sound-alike "What Do You See" are helped immensely by the fleshed-out production, and are the only tunes here that make any lasting impression. Another Minute, while an unspectacular debut, introduced Cause & Effect as a promising, melodic young band, and the album became a minor hit. Sadly, Rowley passed away in late 1992 from asthma-related cardiac arrest. Rowe soldiered on, however, regrouping Cause & Effect with musicians Richard Shepherd and Keith Milo, and releasing a very good sophomore effort (Trip) in 1994. [Nastymix released the CD in 1988.]