3 keepers
keeper avg .300 (original album)
Power pop is a reasonable description for the debut album the Only Ones, thought the leisurely-paced "The Whole of the Law" is an odd choice for the opening track, unless it's intended as a decoy intended by throw off pursuit. The band's best-known song and subject of much critical adulation, the fun and un-pretentious "Another Girl, Another Planet," follows. Funny that I've never heard at least three similarities to Eagles' 1974 hit "Already Gone" mentioned. Of course it's not surprising that one is discussed with enthusiastic reverence while the other is dismissed with disdain. Sure, Eagles are boring and corporate and I agree that "Don Henley must die!" (credit to Mojo Nixon) as much as anyone, but if we're being honest maybe the truth for each is somewhere in the middle. Like The Beatles's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," "Breaking Down" smooshes together two contrasting parts, adding some superficially jazzy color.
The rest of side one is the album's real treasure. A uniquely spaced/accented riff makes the energetic "City of Fun"**** (the Hey hey what you see what you're doing to me song) memorable, while in "The Beast"**** Peter Perrett and John Perry's angular riffs slyly interplay and build to a potent, raucous coda (perhaps inspired by one of band's contemporaries, the incomparable Television). On side two, the effervescent "Language Problem," the punk-y "The Immortal Story," and the charming but unremarkable "No Peace for the Wicked" reside near the Squeeze / Elvis Costello / Talking Heads nexus. The side is rounded by sleepy ballad "It's the Truth" and rapidly start-stopping "Creature of Doom," but two of the 2009 bonus tracks, the XTC-like "Lovers of Today" and the Clash-ish "As My Wife Says," are more fun.
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