410. Marquee Moon - Television

Having read Simon Reynold's outstanding Rip it up and Start Again, I was determined to get into post-punk. It seemed to pick up the baton from prog-rock as technically impressive, cerebral music, which is right up my alley. However, having struggled with a couple of Gang of Four albums, and not really grasping The Wire, I felt a bit disillusioned. With Television falling into this category, here was an opportunity to rediscover the genre that I'd never really got.

The tone is completely post-punk, with the slightly sneering vocals, use of spoken words, and preponderence of synths. The lyrics are generally pretty obscure, with a heavy art influence; a whole song about Venus de Milo being a good example. That doesn't mean that this isn't a pop album at its heart however, with plenty of catchy hooks and solid choruses. An earlier attempt to record some singles with Brian Eno supports this, as the sound Eno capture was described by Tom Verlaine, the band's frontman, as too cold and brittle. Friction demonstrates the art-pop nature of the album, and sounds almost copyright-infringingly close to David Byrne's Talking Heads. It's not a song you're going to return to on a weekly basis, but when it comes on it doesn't half grab your attention. The title track shows the band as a cohesive, musically accomplished group, not just relying on capturing the zeitgeist in terms of their sound, especially impressive given that this was their debut album. The title track has some decent elements, and Elevation sounds like Joy Division if Jimmy Page had been their lead guitarist.

The album itself was critically applauded, and sold well in the UK, but failed to capture the commercial success of many of the band's New York peers in the US. The album cover is very dated now, but does have an arty feel to it, unsurprisingly given it was from a Robert Mapplethorpe photo.

This album pleasantly surprised me with its accessibility and variety. At its core is a very good pop-rock album, with some arty lyrics and slightly dated synths. There are a good few tracks here that won't be out of place on some decent playlists, Friction and Marquee Moon stand outs for me, and if more of the post-punk scene had followed their lead, it may have had an even greater musical impact on the 80s and 90s. A better experience than I feared, although not the revelation I hoped for.

Chloe's album rating: 6

Chloe's favourite track: 5. Elevation

Olly's album rating: 7

Olly's favourite track: 3. Friction

Next up is 762. Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair.