Nurds in Bloomington, MN

In another part of the world in 1979,
post-punk
bands like
the Slits
and
the Raincoats
were making prickly, challenging music from a female perspective. Meanwhile,
the Roches
were working on their sophomore album,
Nurds
, a likewise prickly and challenging
folk-pop
album from a group whose ties to
Paul Simon
and the Greenwich Village
folk
scene probably cost them some of their potential underground following. Make no mistake, though --
is a downright arty album in places. It's impossible to listen to the title track without thinking of
(assuming you're familiar with
), and the lyrics throughout are alternately weird, amusing, and poetic. The harmonies are sweet one moment and dissonant the next, while the subject matter changes in an instant from chocolate to boat people, or to a bizarre in-joke about
Suzzy Roche
washing clothes at the laundromat.
was a charting album in 1980, and kudos to
for managing to sell this unusual and creative album to the masses. ~ Greg Adams