LP - Various Artists - Bowling Balls II (Orig. on Clone Records)
FUTURE RARITY ALERT! ORIGINAL 1981 PRESSING ON CLONE!
Like the first volume, this comp was named for a graveyard of buried bowling balls discovered in Akron a few decades ago. Otherwise, neither volume has anything to do with knocking over pear shaped pins with holy balls and the only band the two volumes have in common is Waitresses. They wrap up Side B with Astronettes but that's not really where we should start. Let's start with Susan Schmidt and Debbie Smith and their femme/new wave/ very Lust For Life-esque, Men. This ying to the yang of the Energy Girls Don't Like Me is the first groove your needle will slide into - if you drop it in the right place. Then Unit 5 present their midwestern Go-Gos sound for the first of three appearances on Go Ahead And Kiss Her. Nick Nicholis selflessly ordered the Bizarros Another Desert Story third on the first side leading nicely into Hammer Damage who you may remember from a recent Last Laugh reissue single appearing here with the super catchy Noise Pollution. Tin Huey then go on to show-off their decidedly David Byrne-y Wise Up. On the flip, Unit 5 and Schmidt/Smith return for tracks B1 and B2 - both solid estrogen-laden new wave tracks and Unit 5's singer takes the lead on the funky and post-punky New Leather Jacket. The only bit of pure testosterone on this side comes from the only non-American band ever released on Clone, Japan's Totsuzen Danball. Their track, Jelly Beans Say, is a sick angular repetitive post-punk guitar fest that would make Gang of Four gang-green with envy and it's one of the rare vinylized documents of the band. Which brings us back to doe...aka Astronettes by Waitresses. An interstellar new wave sax-y jam about female cosmonauts. And that's why Bowling Balls II is the perfect platter for your next ten-pin party!
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