In today's day an age, Fischer-Z simply don't have any obvious parallels. While certainly not "wacky," the band's sardonic bite was irrepressible, due in large part to the singular vocal histrionics of prime-mover/guitarist John Watts, who's pitch approximated something that of a falsetto and a tolerable whine, that by some miracle never breached into anything outright aggravating. Vaguely along the same acerbic lines as early Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Fabulous Poodles, and perhaps less-so, Squeeze, not to mention Yankee contemporaries Donnie Iris and The A's, Watts and Co. were a cheeky lot to a fault. While not outright punk/power pop/synth, F/Z were ingratiated by said audiences anyway, as some of those sonic sensibilities were casually employed. They spotted cultural and romantic notions not so much with a full-throated belly laugh rather a wry, sideways glance. What they may lack in obvious appeal to say, nascent Gen-Z ears it doesn't require more than a few listens to these albums to glean why they're still endeared by the folks who were reared by them, circa 1980.
Infrequently astonishing but consistently confident and satisfying, 1979's Word Salad, is stunning in the respect that it's surprisingly sophisticated and nuanced for a debut, with F/Z genuinely possessing the temperament and poise of a band already several albums into their career. Generating no less than four singles, ...Salad's arrangements are tight but breathable, bearing an amiable balance between keys and guitars. A subtle ska bent (a la "Watching the Detectives") was already beginning to infiltrate their m.o. to tasteful and measured effect on "The Worker," which endowed the group their first blush of minor success, scraping the bottom rungs of their home country's chart, and managing to place at #20 on Netherlands' survey. Hardly an album of extremes ...Salad never necessitates being so.
Following one year later, Going Deaf for a Living entailed some minor innovations. In an uncharacteristic gesture Watt's timbre temporarily slips into a more natural baritone on the reggae-fied opening salvo, "Room Service," and is no worse for the wear on a tune that also incidentally merges power-chords with strings. Loosely in sync with strains of New Romantic pop, "So Long" was the 'hit' this time around (another Dutch chart success, not to mention a #9 placement in Portugal). Fischer weren't ones to wallop listeners over the heads with anything overbearing...with perhaps ...Deaf's one notable exception, the jovial and mildly unnerving "Limbo," analogous to what "Rock Lobster" represented to the B-52's. Elsewhere, our protagonists flex ample musculature on "No Right" and the extra punky "Crank." ...Deaf was the closest F/Z ever came to pushing the proverbial envelope, and their results did indeed vary.
Polishing off their initial trifecta of acclaimed albums 1981's Red Skies Over Paradise, finds Fischer-Z scaling their absolute summit, with the melodious and genuinely anthemic single "Marilese" serving as not only the most out-and-out catchiest number on the LP, but perhaps the most dazzling song they would ever commit to tape. Triumphant and buoyed as they seemingly were on the heels of this smashing pearl (#1 in Portugal for chrissakes), the overarching tenor of the remainder of ...Paradise is veritably more sober, with F/Z treading into several geo-political screeds - "Cruise Missiles," "Multinationals Bite," and even Cold War concerns pervading the lamentable title track. The serious yin to Going Deaf's.. oft lighthearted yang, Red Skies... makes for compelling character development and growth in Fischer's little sphere, and for better or worse there wouldn't be a follow-up to the record until a revamped lineup of the group resurfaced for 1987's Reveal, post a John Watts solo stint.
Word Paradise is available direct from Cherry Records hq, Amazon and hopefully your local retailer.
