A recent thought-provoking post by Paul over at Setting The Woods On Fire, where he asked himself and his readers what would be the world´s most underrated rock band, immediately made me think of Human Switchboard for some reason. I really don´t know if they´re the correct answer to that impossible but fun question, but over the years I found that hardly anyone remembers that band, which sure is a shame.
The trio from Kent, Ohio debuted with a nice but ramshackle single, which was produced by David Thomas of Pere Ubu fame. Apart from two live recordings, they only released one official studio album, the great Who´s Landing In My Hangar? from ´81. Listening to it, their Velvets fandom is obvious, but the farfisa organ they´re using throughout makes one think alternately of sixties garage and late seventies new wave (think Costello´s Attractions).
So check out the beautiful, intense ballad Refrigerator Door, where they alternate male (Robert Pfeifer) and female (Myrna Marcarian) vocals to great effect, the rather Blondie-ish I Can Walk Alone and the uptempo rocker No Heart and tell me what you think ok? It´s just that I wonder if I´m the only one who thinks that a cd reissue of this gem is way overdue...
Human Switchboard - Refrigerator Door MP3
Human Switchboard - I Can Walk Alone MP3
Human Switchboard - No Heart MP3
