Love and Rockets "Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven"

 
Love and Rockets "Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven" 7/10

Today's deep dive is into the psychadelic-pop world of Love and Rockets' debut album.  The particular pressing I am using for my study here is a the 2014, Super Vinyl 200 gram repress on blue wax.  Some people find colored vinyl to be of an inferior quality to black vinyl, and while there are probably shades of grey differences, I would be hard pressed to pick them up.  I do prefer black vinyl releases, but often these reissues are only going to come in colors.  I should probably consider myself lucky; this record is a very limited press.  One of 1500.  And, it probably sounds better than an OP, as this was faithfully remastered by audiophile label, Quality Record Pressings.

If you are unfamiliar with Love and Rockets, here is the rub.  They are from the British wave of post-punk.  Their dark, gloomy, psych pop is akin to their peers in The Cure, The Church, Echo and the Bunnymen, etc.  But, that isn't the beginning and the end of their story.

Love and Rockets were formed in the ashes of goth rock godfathers, Bauhaus.  Yes, THAT Bauhaus, the legendary band full of Bowie-isms, theatrics, black clothes, smeared eyeliner, Bela Lugosi, etc.  While Bauhaus were in the midst of a split, drummer Kevin Haskins and Daniel Ash invited their roadie Glenn Campling to join them in a side project on bass.  What resulted was the weird, experimental, sometimes dance hall stomping Tones on Tail.  Tones on Tail released a few singles, a few EPs, an LP, did a small tour and called it quits.

Following the end of Tones on Tail, there was a renewed interest in Bauhaus.  In their post-mortem period, their cult following only grew as goth rock was becoming a bigger and bigger scene.  Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins entertained the idea of a reunion, inviting Bauhaus bassist David J and singer Peter Murphy back into the fray.  Rehearsals were scheduled, but Peter Murphy was a no-show.  Daniel Ash was confident at this point as a vocalist, as was David J.  So, as history would have it, they decided to carry on as a new project, the power trio, Love and Rockets.

Love and Rockets is not a strict departure from Bauhaus, but it is certainly its own entity, much as was Tones on Tail.  There is a much greater focus on melody and pop sensibility, while maintaining the experimental ideas and nature of the later Bauhaus records.  In this debut, we hear Love and Rockets use dreamlike sonic landscapes,  while still relying on a dark aesthetic.  Fun fact for goth trivia night; Daniel Ash's look was the inspiration for Brandon Lee's in "The Crow."

Here is our track by track take on this debut:

1) "If There's a Heaven Above"

This song is an exercise in layering parts.  A simple 3 chord melody is layered with acoustic guitars, an electric lead, and a light synth part.  Kevin Haskin's usually understated drumming takes and even bigger backseat.  It's hard to tell if they are using a drum machine here, or if his drums have been run through so many compressors that it just sounds synthetic.  Daniel Ash takes a page from John Lennon with his vocals, making a sort of imperfect double track of is lead.  It always makes for an interesting harmony effect.  As an opener, it sets the scene for what Love and Rockets is about, but wouldn't rank in the top 20 of their best tracks.

2) "A Private Future"

This is the first glimpse of one of the hats that Love and Rockets wears so well.  We get a soft acoustic ballad.  Daniel Ash can finger pick his way into just about any hook on an acoustic 6 string or 12 string and make it sound absolutely serene.  This song is one of the more straightforward demonstrations of this, and he would go on to even bigger guitar work, but this song sets the tone.

3) "Dog End of a Day Gone By"

Here is where things start to really cook.  We get a riff reminiscent of late Bauhaus, but it quickly takes a left turn.  Kevin Haskins hits us with his frantic drumming. "Dog End" is British slang for a cigarette butt.   This song creates a picture of a a busy and exhausting city scape full of boisterous drunks, obnoxious street preachers, newspaper boys, unrequited love, disappointment, and a sigh of relief.  You can feel the exhaustion of the song, picturing a lonely man stubbing out a cigarette as he blows his last puff of smoke before retiring for the evening.  Love and Rockets are masters of making psychedelic pop full of piss and vinegar.   Whereas many of their contemporaries used the medium to express melancholy, Love and Rockets used it to express anger.  Beautiful anger.  This song is worth turning the hi-fi up a few notches to enjoy.

4) "The Game"

This song definitely has the feel of and trappings of the dreaded filler track.  Kind of a boring droning bass line takes the driver's seat.  It has a sort of creepy feel like danger lurking around the corner, but Daniel Ash has made much better songs that would serve as a facsimile for a horror film soundtrack.  The song isn't handwringingly bad, but a B side from the sessions or a cover might have served the record better.

5) "Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven"

Here is where we get goth-adelic again.  A funky bassline playing in the pocket of industrial sounding drums, with a flowing, minimalistic guitar part.  Even though Daniel Ash's style sounds nothing like that of David Gilmore or Keith Richards, he plays from the same school.  He isn't usually flashy, but can be, but is always playing in service of the song.  If he has a big sweeping lead, it is a part of the bigger picture of the song, versus an exercise in virtuosity.  What we get here is a sweeping lead part that fits that narrative.  The lyrics feel like they are written to freak out a kid who just smoked his first joint or just felt that first hit of acid kick in.  The song certainly pops out of the speakers in 3 dimensions.

6) "Haunted When the Minutes Drag"

This is another one of those songs that is like slapping the object of your frustration with silk.  Absolutely beautiful build up, and once again Daniel Ash really shows his chops on an acoustic guitar.  David J finally shows off some of his chops as a bass player, and as a harmony vocalist.  Daniel goes and carries on from the post-breakup blues.  Describing his inability to get his former lover off of his mind. As the song builds and builds, it finally becomes an ultimatum about how Daniel has been wronged.    This is for when you feel NOTHING!  

7) "Saudade"

This is the first in a series of Love and Rockets instrumentals.  Just about every LaR  album has one of these mood pieces.  The cynical listener may find it as an easy out to fill a few minutes of an album side, but almost all of them are serenely beautiful exercises in creating textures.  

So, "Seventh Dream" isn't my favorite album by Love and Rockets, but it is a solid listen.  It sets the stage for what would go on to be a 15 year career, only really interrupted by the Bauhaus reunion.  And, a Bauhaus reunion is really just the guys from Love and Rockets with Peter Murphy on vocals, so it wasn't the toughest job to pull off (though Daniel Ash and Peter Murphy seem to get along about as well as ice cubes in a hot fryer).  

Following the breakup of Bauhaus once again in the late 2000s, Love and Rockets did a few one-off shows at a few big ticket festivals.  The music was shelved until Kevin Haskins and Daniel Ash once again reunited to form retrospective group, Poptone, playing songs from all of their incarnations.  Peter Murphy invited David J along to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bauhaus and play some shows in 2019.  Bauhaus announced another reunion and slew of shows in 2020, which were all of course cancelled due to the global pandemic.  But, it looks like, the music of Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, and Love and Rockets will never die, and still inspires people young and old today.  "Seventh Dream" is a great launch pad for what would go on to be one of the most influential bands in post-punk music.