Beauty and the Cletes

Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10

These ladies are so easy to write-off that I'll come right out and admit that I've been guilty of that in a bad way. I look at this band, and I see a cutesy pop group that relies on bubble-gum melodies and their gimmick of being an all-girl group. But what's so bad about any of that? Absolutely nothing as long as the music is tasteful and enjoyable. And that's exactly where the Go-Go's succeed with flying colors.

Right off the bat, they deliver what's probably considered their signature tune, "Our Lips Are Sealed." What's so striking about that song is not just the hopelessly infectious melody, but it's the way they play it. It's organic! There aren't any drum machines anywhere! ... Hey, it even sounds more organic and homely than The Cars and with a heck of a lot more personality. Yes, The Go-Go's are your garden variety new wave band. This album was released in 1981, which was just about when new wave became the norm. And, well, it hit the #1 spot on the pop charts and ended up going double platinum. This wouldn't be much of a review if I didn't also mention that Beauty and the Beat was a major milestone for women in rock --- it's the first album to hit the #1 spot from a girl group who wrote and performed their own songs. Cool.

What's important is not the commercial success and historical notoriety, but it's the music! YES!! THE MUSIC!!! Well, the music sounds extremely fresh and exuberant, and it's completely unspoiled by the sounds of heavy synthesizers and the drum machines. They're not exactly originals, though. 1981 was already four years after the new wave explosion of 1977, and they take mighty hints from Blondie, The Cars and Adam Ant before them. In fact, they even seem retro if you look at what Blondie was doing at the time who had long abandon this sort of fast-paced surf rock. I'd think about criticizing them for not being "true artists" whatever that means, but......

.......well, if you really need proof, just take a look at "Automatic." That's not a great song by any means, but it's definitely unusual. A lesser band would have made an ugly and awkward mess out of it, but everything they do seems to work. The robotic feeling of it is strange, but the flawless and inspired way they structure that song is, well, excellent. Read the track review for more details!! Likewise, search inside and out, you're just not going to find a poorly done moment anywhere here.

I even like the singing. Lead singer Brenda Carlisle is no Tina Turner, but she has the exact perfect, youthful and carefree tone that's required of this music. Also, it's nice to listen to someone who sounds like a real human being in this world that's currently oversaturated with awful singers such as Hilary Duff and Britney Spear. I'm going to end this review with a quote about Carlisle from Wikipedia that's making me giggle: "Carlisle's first venture into music was a brief stint as drummer for the punk band The Germs under the name Dottie Danger, although illness prevented her from ever performing with them live."

Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10 (HAVE FUN!!!!!)

Average Song Score: 8.9 (There's not a weak spot in sight. Plus, the two major hits are fantastic.)

Album Tilt: 8.5 (Don't expect any mind-blowing moments, but what a load of unrestrained fun!!)

Artist Rating: 8.5 (This wasn't anything NEW, but they're both unpretentious and human beings. That quality ain't exactly dime-a-dozen.)

Track Reviews

Our Lips Are Sealed 10/10

This is a nice, inoffensive, happy, unpretentious and catchy new wave song, and this is exactly why I enjoy listening to new wave so much. I'll go a step further and say this is exactly how pop music is supposed to sound like. It's not just the phenomenally catchy melody, but it's the instrumentation as well. They're not relying on overblown or slick instrumentation (the main reason why Hilary Duff's version falls so short). It's just the simple new wave combo. Drum beat, the Carsian rapid rhythm guitars, some keyboards, and electric guitars come up in the chorus. The singing's brilliant, too. They sound like real people. And that, my friends, means this real music.

How Much More 8.5/10

The principles I touched upon in the previous track review still applies. They sound like real musicians. They're not enormously gifted singers, but they're geniune! Unfortunately they're also falliable and they're not really capable of coming up with more than one infectious song per album. The general structure of the song is rather charming, especially how they incorporate that section with thunderous drum beats. However, the melody just isn't that interesting.

Tonite 8/10

What's this, some Adam Ant posturing? ... Or am I just imaging that? Geez, I've been listening to a lot of '80s pop albums lately. Again, the Go-Go's don't fail to be charming, and this is far from ordinary corporate pop. The melody has its points of interest, but there aren't really any major hooks here. I like those twinkly guitars at the end of this.

Lust to Love 9/10

Very nice! This track begins with some hypnotic guitars as one of the girls sings over it. It sounds as unpretentious as possible. But not too soon, an excellent new wave tune pops up. The guitar crunches are wonderful! This sounds much more dramatic than what's been presented before, but they're being convincing at it, so there's no room to complain. Most importantly, I like the melody and these excellent chord progressions.

This Town 9/10

This is really similar to the previous track in both structure and quality. It intermittently goes between a rather bare part involving rapidly played rhythm guitar and then it explodes into a catchy chorus. Well, this is another charmer, and it constitutes one of the finer non-hits of the album! The guitar is really resembling those spaghetti western styles of our friend Adam Ant. Well, the Go-Gos were obviously big fans...

We Got the Beat 10/10

When they have a hit, they really have a hit. This is just about as classic as "Our Lips Are Sealed." This one's features thunderous and awesomely fun drums at its core; it's such a fresh throwback to surf music. Most importantly it has a phenomenally catchy melody! The section where they strip it down to percussion and clapping (with the alleged hope to inspire audience participation upon listeners) doesn't work in most contexts, but it does here. Yes, this has more of that insufferable charm! Why should they ever let it end?

Fading Fast 9.5/10

Yeah, why should it ever end? It's not as infectious as the two hits, but it's surprisingly close, and it's just as charming. This is a sweet and smooth song is incredibly fun to hear. More of that innocent pop music that you don't have to feel guilty for enjoying. The arrangements are particularly well done here; I especially enjoy that textured keyboard sound.

Automatic 9/10

Wow. This is kind of awesome. It's not great, but it actually works more or less. They're adopting a much more robotic tone here, and it's really charming. I don't want you to imagine this being a synth-pop song; this is still their genuine brand of new wave music with the usual set of instruments. They just found this funny gimmick that always manages to catch me off guard whenever I listen to this --- and I mean that in a good way. I think the way they open this song is classic. The lead singer goes "Automatic-ic-ic-ic" as if she had a temporary glitch and then the drum rhythm changes. You'll have to listen to it! It's great!! There are moments when they make these extended pauses, which is usually a bad idea, but the Go-Go's time it perfectly so it turns out to be an asset. This song ends up proving to me that they're far beyond the average pop band.

You Can't Walk in Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep) 8.5/10

This is more of a usual, upbeat new wave tune with more of those carefree, good times. The instrumentation is the best aspect of this one. It's so bouncy and danceable that I'm holding back the urge to bob my head with it! The sounds are very crisp and just a buttload of fun. Of course the melody is catchy as well. The big beef I have is the way they end this song... In fact, more of the way they *don't* end this song. It just stops abruptly. Eh........

Skidmarks On My Heart 8.5/10

More of those thunderous drums although they're seemingly less warranted with this song. But what am I comparing that to, "We Got the Beat?" Actually, this is another fine song! The chorus is very infectious although the rest of the song isn't quite as such. The instrumentation is thunderous and genuine once again. These ladies are certainly not ones to disappoint in that category.

Can't Stop the World 8/10

You can't stop the world, but do you have to stop this album? I'm having so much fun! Well, I have to say this wasn't the ideal way to end the album. I mean, it's perfectly entertaining and there's that youthful edge to it that characterizes the Go-Go's spirit so well, but it doesn't have a personal quirk or gimmick that so many of the other compositions had. I'd say this song has the least personality of them all!!! ... Well, it's still "carefree" and that's definitely something!

Which one of the Go-Go's wants to go out with me the most? Discuss your thoughts here!