Freur/Underworld mk1

I was a big Underworld fan for about 5 years before I discovered a disc called Underneath the Radar by a band with the same name. I bought it used for $1.99 for the novelty value of having a disc by a band that shared a name with my favorite group. Then I listened to it. Whoa, not only do they have the same name, but this guy sounds just like Karl Hyde! **goes through CD booklet** **makes Tim Taylor grunting noise** Awoooouuh? That actually IS Karl Hyde?? You almost never hear about the 'mk1' Underworld, aside from the fact that they charted a couple of minor hits ("Underneath the Radar" and "Stand Up", the former you may still hear on some 80's radio stations today), and toured with the Eurythmics way back when. Had the group not went on to relative stardom, these discs would have basically fallen off the planet, and rightfully so; they're mired terribly in the 80's, with Sire Records pushing them hard for a relentlessly commercial, super sterile sound that would place it alongside albums by Huey Lewis and A Flock of Seagulls. But they never got a big break and were dropped, which in hindsight is the best thing that could have happened to them. Actually, this was the second time that this happened to them - I then discovered that more or less the same crew was responsible for a synth-heavy New Romantic group called Freur, who also had minor radio success before getting dropped by their second album. While I can't really recommend the Underworld albums, it turns out Freur was actually pretty entertaining, sounding like a less self-conscious Depeche Mode, except Hyde is a better singer. They're on my short list of "great 80's bands that never were". Although they were a song-based and very trendy group, you can actually trace the path from Freur to Underworld mk2 through an unreleased track called "Alabaster White Thing". A few demos have surfaced that showed Freur as being experimental gearheads, but that doesn't come through on the albums. In this sense, the mk1 group is kind of a step back.

As for the lineup - it starts with Karl Hyde (guitar, vocals) and Rick Smith (keyboards), with Alfie Thomas (bass), Bryn Burrows (drums), and John Warwicker (also keyboards, maybe other instruments as well). When Freur got dropped and turned into Underworld, Warwicker left the group, though he would help form the design company Tomato which has worked extensively with Underworld throughout the years. Thomas doesn't have much of a record afterwards, though Burrows has become something of a journeyman. Anyway, on to the reviews:

Screen Gemz - I Just Can't Stand Cars/Teenage Teenage (1979)
Okay, so this was actually Hyde and Smith's first group, with Thomas appearing as well. The songs are alright, but this isn’t recorded very well. Still, it’s a hell of a collector’s item, and for what it’s worth they did recycle one of the hooks on “I Just Can’t Stand Cars”, a fine pop song in its own right. Sounds like the Bay City Rollers, which is either embarrassing or hilarious.

Freur - Doot-Doot (1983)
Although Freur never did achieve any commercial success, at the very least they have got to be one of the era's most likeable bands. Their brand of chilled, synth heavy New Romantic crooning isn't really anything new or unique, but Freur had the right amount of dorkiness to them. I mean, they really did buy into just about every 80's trapping; the big, ridiculous hair, the slap bass, the big gated drum effect, all the then-state of the art production tricks, the deep crooning of lyrics meant to seduce, or something. Hyde sings the line "four hearts beat as one" and whispers in the background "one...two...three...four". Maybe they weren't exactly going for longevity, but if they were at all concerned about how this would sound even 10 years later they made just about every decision wrong. You couldn't do this kind of music with a straight face today, but this is not exactly "I Love the 80's" fodder. Freur had two things going for them - one, they wrote strong, memorable songs with good hooks and atmosphere, and two, they had one of the best singers in the business. Hyde is really the "X" factor who turns the album from good to great - he delivers many of the lines with a B-movie fervor, trying to wring emotion out of every line, milking the "confident, yet vulnerable" vibe for everything its worth. The strength of his voice and a deep electric piano alone turn "Whispering" into a deeply resonant, trance-inducing ballad, and the way the vocals creep into the bass channels is chilling. Likewise, the title track has to go down as one of the best minor hits of the 80's - it's distinctly downtempo (an odd choice for a single), focusing instead on strange vocal effects and layered synth parts. When everything comes to a crescendo in the end, it's a stunning moment, even today. Since it didn't chart very high, it has the benefit of avoiding overexposure, and if you liked this period, the single is a major find. Nothing else on the album is as epic as that, but it's still a very good listen. There is a gothic vibe here; dark but not overwhelmingly so, and the focus is mostly on the hooks (particularly the vocal ones). The result is a bunch of melancholy tunes that are catchy enough to hold up over multiple listenings ("Runaway", "Matters of the Heart", "Tender Surrender"). It's like OMD with more production tricks and camp, or maybe Depeche Mode with a better singer. They do stray from the path on a few tracks, with mixed results; "My Room" is a great piece of controlled slap bass funk, but the jazzy film-noir feel of "Theme From the Film of the Same Name" just feels unfinished. I'm still not sure what to make out of the thin sex groove "Steam Machine", but it probably wouldn't worth listening to if it weren't so bizarre. Still, most of this is pretty damn good, and the group has enough tricks up their sleeves to make the songs work on their own. There's layered vocals on "Runaway", a bunch of dramatic piano stabs at the end of "Tender Surrender", a huge chorus on "All Too Much", etc. etc. What this means is that most of the songs do have a clear "good part" to listen for, which makes it easy to come back to this album. It's not exactly a "lost classic", but it's endearing, and is exactly the type of half-guilty pleasure album that you'll find yourself wanting to hear a lot.

Freur - Get Us Out Of Here (1985)
This was supposed to be Freur's "coming out" album; it's loaded to the gills with potential follow-up singles, but only "The Devil and Darkness" ended up charting. They've moved on from the New Romanticisms (and relative seriousness) of Doot Doot and delved into synthpop, though a particularly catchy and goofy branch of it. Songwise, this is actually better than the first album; they do lose most of their resonant vibes (the excellent "Kiss Me" excepted), but the power pop tunes are incredible. These songs are designed to stick in your head, whether it's through big, ridiculously hooky choruses ("A.O.K.O", "The Piano Song"), or upbeat, infectious dance grooves ("Look in the Back for Answers", "Endless Groove"). If you put enough songs like that on an album, it's going to get a good grade from me no matter what. But it could have a synthpop classic; the production work is a hackjob and results in a claustrophobia-inducing mix, which causes some of the instruments to get drowned out (particularly the sax work, which you mostly have to listen for). It has the "$50 boom box" sound to it no matter what stereo you listen to it on. Furthermore, there is a ton of hiss on the vocals which mar one of the group's strongest points. It sucks, but it’s not a huge deal - unlike the last album, they don't rely on atmosphere, as the band mostly keeps things simple and lets the material speak for itself. The bass work stands out but they don't really stick to the same synths or guitars. As for Karl, he handles this type of stuff with a huge grin, adopting a Welsh accent for most of it (which sometimes sounds Cockney, and in either case is pretty fake). I like what he does here though - he sounds confident but not exactly attached to the material, playing up most of the good parts while making it pretty easy to sing along to. The only comparison I can make is to Vince Clarke, who always seemed to play up the fun factor of his material. I wish there were more albums like this – it’s easy to get into and hard to forget. Sadly the group got axed after this, and unlike the debut album, this album didn't get a CD release until 2009, when both albums were packaged together on one disc. Unfortunately they end up having to edit a few of the songs for length (which isn't really a big deal, but it's still lame), and it suffers from modern mastering techniques that turn up all the knobs and drown out the few dynamics that the original had. It deserves a proper CD release along with some bonus tracks (the cassette came with five; otherwise there is some very cool experimental stuff like the ambient "Alabaster White Thing" floating out there), but it will probably never happen. That said, the CD that was released is a major bargain, as both releases are hidden treasures.

Underworld - Underneath the Radar (1988)
This is essentially the same band as Freur, with Baz Allen replacing John Warwicker. Allen gets writing credits on everything, but somehow I believe this group's refined corporate rock sound was an insistence of Sire Records. If you're in love with 80's synth-rock you'll find something to like here - the piano-based leadoff "Glory! Glory!" is punchy and memorable, and the closing "God Song" is hard to resist. And in between? Well, "Underneath the Radar" and "I Need a Doctor" are both fun sing-alongs, with the former actually charting due to a chugging rhythm and a memorable (or obnoxious) vocal melody ("A-see ya later, hip uhnuh now now, caaaall me") placing it somewhere in the vicinity of "Der Kommissar" and "Electric Avenue" (I would think "Doctor" could have also charted). Most of the songs are pretty decent, usually having at least one good vocal hook, even if they sometimes don't fully come together. This results in a few tunes where you'll remember the chorus but not any of the verses ("Call Me No. 1", "Rubber Ball"), and the effort to deliver a resonant "Doot Doot"-like track is pretty much a failure ("Pray"). But they're still writing good melodies, and at the very least, there's an entertaining upbeat vibe that prevents the album from dragging. I mean, "Bright White Flame" is not really a great song, but it's really easy to enjoy on some level, and there is something to be said for that. I guess there's really no reason to own this now unless you're really into this type of processed synthrock music, but I've seen plenty of used copies floating around for four dollars or less, and the title track itself is definitely worth that.

Underworld - Change the Weather (1989)
You could probably go back and read the review of the first album again, since this is mostly the same thing. The only differences are a slightly harder, more guitar based sound, and more fast-paced material. Do they pull any punches? Well, if the scat singing on "Mercy" is any indication, not really. Why don't we just ask Karl himself? "It comes into your head, you stick it in your hat, you shout Attack! Attack! Attack!, and don't look back". Well, there you go. I mean, they certainly seem comfortable doing stupid dance songs, some of which are pretty damn good (the title track, "Sole Survivor"), and at the very least are fun ("Thrash"). This one features the anthemic "Stand Up" which became their biggest American hit (somehow). Plus, "Mercy" is also a clear standout, a fast-paced feel-good tune with all sorts of layered vocals. So why does it score lower than the previous album? Well, besides those three tracks, most of this doesn't really have much replay value; the vocal hooks are usually good, but they can be pretty obvious ("Fever", "Thrash"), or practically nonexistent ("Original Song"). I'm not saying that Underneath the Radar had a whole lot of personality, but this generic synthrock/funk/metal sound doesn't have any real dynamic to it, and the ballads they do are generally forgettable ("Texas", "Beach"). Check it out if you liked the first album and can find it cheap - once again, this is a bargain bin mainstay, and the better tracks are certainly worth a few bucks.

The saga of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith goes on. Click here.