Breakfast in Bed - Australian Coffee (1982, Crunch Ltd.)

Something tells me I'm going to be all over the map this week, so why not start with something as alien as I've ever offered?  I submit to you Breakfast in Bed, a Boston-area trio who were seemingly immune to anything resembling a power chord.  As for power cords, now that's more like it, especially when one was connected to Dana Caus' invariably pinging synthesizer, which was the primary component of BIB's dissonant, no-wave bent.  The proprietor of Waxidermy espouses the notion that Breakfast in Bed purloined some of their cues from A Certain Ratio, an adventurous Factory Records post-punk outfit.  While I concur, "Edge of a Cliff" and the title track, among others, feature Doug Klayman’s shifty, fretless bass poppin,’ recalling the funk-informed mannerisms of Gang of Four and APB as well.  I'm feeling some Pere Ubu on this record too.  Make no mistake, Australian Coffee is about as anti-mainstream as it gets, with a thick, avant glaze permeating every square inch.  No pop tunes, but still rewarding.

01. Fortune Cookies
02. Feel Much Better
03. Aqua Vitae
04. Splash
05. Edge of a Cliff
06. Australian Coffee
07. Incident North
08. Skin

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