Rhythm Method

With a better image on the back cover photo than the pictures in the previous album — and a dreadful front cover drawing by Larry Blamire — the wonderful Rings lean more toward Roxy Music meets Herman's Hermits on their second album released the same year as their first. "Uh Oh (Here I Go Again)" is a very clever sequel to "Let Me Go," their minor hit from the first LP, and sounding nothing like the first disc. The progression on this album is amazing considering how quickly it followed on the heels of the self-titled debut. "Take the Chance" is Split Enz meets the Ventures, these guys mop riffs right and left, but they key is, they know where to lift, and when. More cohesive than albums released in the same time period by the Atlantics on ABC, Willie Alexander also on MCA, Robin Lane on Warner Bros., Private Lighting on A&M, and the Nervous Eaters on Elektra, the Rings have the benefit of their own production skills, their fate squarely in their own hands. They overcame the production curse that imploded all the aforementioned groups' efforts, but, despite that plus, this superb music just never caught on. Michael Baker's "Talk Back" equals his work on the first album, but nothing here achieved the regional airplay in New England like the Rings' debut. This project is crisp, the vocals are on target, and the band captured something at the Record Plant in New York which many of their peers could not — the performance of their live energy to the studio recordings. "Love's Not Safe" is quirky pop that works, and the title track truly experimental, but the material is not as explosive as their brilliant debut. Still, it's top-shelf stuff. The Rhythm Method and the previous outing, The Rings, would make a nice retrospective combined on one CD. Innovative music that somehow escaped attention.