The Modern Lovers: The Modern Lovers (180g, blue vinyl) [MUSIC ON VINYL]

Why you'll love it

This Music On Vinyl edition is a numbered 180g blue pressing limited to 4,000 copies. The album's John Cale-produced songs helped lay the groundwork for punk and new wave.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Blue vinyl
• Numbered
• Limited to 4,000 copies
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

The Modern Lovers had already gone their separate ways by the time their debut came out. Jonathan Richman's Boston band cut most of these songs in 1972 with John Cale producing, and the tapes sat around until 1976, when the record finally appeared and sounded right on schedule for punk.

Richman wrote every song, and he sings them with a wide-eyed sincerity that makes the stripped-down, two-chord drive feel almost sweet. "Roadrunner" is the great song about driving at night with the radio up, "Pablo Picasso" is deadpan genius over a menacing organ, and "Astral Plane" and "She Cracked" crackle with nervous energy. Keyboardist Jerry Harrison, who later joined Talking Heads, donated "Hospital" from a session at Intermedia Sound in Boston, and drummer David Robinson went on to The Cars. Bassist Ernie Brooks rounded out the lineup, and between them they shaped a good deal of American new wave.

The Sex Pistols covered "Roadrunner," and its influence runs through decades of garage and indie rock. Play it on the drive home and the Gardiner starts to feel like Route 128, which is more than the Gardiner usually manages.

Also at Kops: more The Modern Lovers on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Music On Vinyl / BMG (cat# MOVLP1681), a reissue of the 1976 album.