Sub-Pop
1997
Despite his strong anti-commercial stance (in the 80's anyway), indie-icon Steve Albini holds an
obvious affinity for subversive pop-patrons Cheap Trick. His band Big Black even ran through the
cheap chestnut "He's a Whore." Prodded by alternative music critic Ira Robbins, Albini produced two
cuts for a Sub Pop vinyl single (available also on the Japanese import of the '97 Cheap Trick album and
a CD single annoyingly scotch-taped to the early domestic releases) which do bring the band closer
to the wickedly tangled roots of the first Trick record. Featuring a cool riff, sassy recycled bits
and Zander's usual drop-dead delivery, "Baby Talk" churns like the kind of trick trash Nielsen once
wrote in his sleep. Next the Move's "Brontosaurus" lumbers in. Trick already threw a piece of this
beast into Heaven Tonight's superlative "California Man" cover. How the Rockford quartet could look
at the Move's gleaming repertoire and decide on "Brontosaurus" is one of the head-scratchers that
makes them Cheap Trick.
-STONE, Cheap Trash NYC
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