Tag: 1985

Elvis Presley with The Mellomen / Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires – One Broken Heart for Sale / U.S. Male [1985; RCA, Underground Records]

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On the A-side, with the Mellomen group of backing singers, Elvis’s vocals ride on a guitar/drum/bass strut while telling the tale of his break-up and subsequent sadness, quickly making its point in the minute and a half it uses.  The B-side runs a minute longer, bringing in The Jordanaires for the tune, which takes a turn into more country-flavored rock.  Acoustic guitar jangles along while Elvis warns against messing with a U.S. male, with a few spoken asides furthering the mood.  A bit of an odd pairing, but both sides are quite decent.

Slow – Against the Glass [1985; Zulu Records]

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On the only EP by Canadian group Slow, the band plays a strain of artsy punk with proto-grunge tones and a wide streak of humor.  Sounding something like a Dead Kennedys homage with near-garage-level production, Slow show a knack for abrupt shifts into hard beats with chords to match, and while the original release of the EP featured just six tracks, the band packs plenty of personality into those tunes, along with a glut of earworm riffs.  Reissues included the two tracks of the band’s only single, “I Broke the Circle” and “Black is Black”, which move deeper into the groove-based approach, making for a nice close to the set.  Good stuff, and a shame that there’s not more than eight songs to their catalog.

Here’s the cover art for the I Broke the Circle 7″.

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