Paisley Jungle - s/t (1986, My Grain)

Paisley Jungle were not headquartered the trenches of the "Paisley Underground" epicenter of Los Angeles, and conveniently for them, they didn't subscribe to that particular neo-psychedelic motif.  As it turns out, this Connecticut quartet's thang veered straight into the alt-rock/left-of-the-dial strata.  No synths or guitars, believe it or not, but rather two basses - the more conventional variety operated by Kara Krane, and a piccolo bass employed by Steve Swan.  As far as Paisley Jungle is concerned, Swan's piccolo bass could pass for a six-string axe at any given moment, producing no shortage of sweet jangly reverb.  Paisley's other indigenous trait would be frontman Paul Brockett, whose sardonic wit was colored by a timbre that negotiated a compromise between Stan Ridgway and Peter Murphy.  Sorta.  A sincere pop acumen informs "Old Fashioned Meal Ticket" and a punkier panache works to great effect on "The World."  A cover of Brian Eno's cult fave "Baby's on Fire" blends in seamlessly and caps off a fun outing.  My apologies for the vinyl noise.

01. The World
02. The Trouble With You
03. I Just Wanna Be Left Alone
04. We Don't Twist
05. S.B.D.
06. Old Fashioned Meal Ticket
07. I Rely on Myself
08. Riptorn
09. Cool Vacation
10. Baby's on Fire

Hear