THE ORDINAIRES

As if RIO had a baby with New Wave... Perverse, I know lol, but now I'm wondering how much funky*ss No Wave(!) is actually represented on ProgArchives... Hmmm... In my research as I listened, I learned that The Ordinaires actually sprung from New York City's No Wave/Noise Rock scene! Highly recommend fans of RIO who may not know to go and have a peek into this shockingly vast and diverse scene. There are some stellar early compilations that tried to capture what was going on then; one such album was No New York (1978), compiled and produced by Mr. Brian ENO!

Being a larger ensemble should be a strong suit for them, and I really do find the space is filled nicely for the most part. Love the strings most, consisting of 2 violins and 1 cello (a single cellist at a time, apparently), these, especially on "Grace", coincide nicely with the contrapuntal saxophones, 1 tenor, 1 alto. The remainder of the band would have been an archetypal rock group on their own: 2 guitarists, a bassist and a drummer.

For fans of RIO, this won't be too much of an issue: a frequent enough high-pitched discordance; but to me, at times, this only makes the music feel all the more free and unique. It doesn't work so hot on tracks like "Industry". But what can I say? It's Avant-Rock in a Post-Punk world. I wouldn't say, though, that it strikes as necessarily overtly "'80s", ya know? There is a clear lineage from the true blue RIO movement of the prior decade. That is certain.

Given the few ratings there are for the band overall, I was not expecting much (and at worst, I was expecting something not good). Well, color me surprised indeed. It's not too groundbreaking or anything, but it is good. And I think that it is actually unique enough, in 1985/86, that they successfully carried their own (let's hope, for when I hear One at least, this is still seemingly true for the whole of their 9 years of existence).

Personal Highlights: T1, T3, T5, T7