Chrysalis
1147
1977
Lookout for this high-energy, bubble-blast of true emotion, simulated
swagger and Johnny Zip's flying V. The only bad thing about Nick Gilder's
deep-blue debut pearl is that the shining You Know Who You Are signals the
beginning of the end. No one knew at the time, but the late 70's would
compress pop to the point of celestial explosion. Sure, there's been some
great variations on the theme since, but listening to the luminous You Know
Who You Are nowadays is most sentimental as it's a fleeting close encounter
of the kind that must come to a close. If you need to hear how amazing
these takes on Gilder's Sweeney Todd leftovers "Roxy Roller" and "Tantalize"
are, what are you waiting for? Then there's "Genevieve" and "Amanda Greer,"
two haunting gazelles who will never see the light of disc. Let this "Poor
Boy" tuck you in at night illuminating illicit images of X-queens between
the seats, with the radio playing familiar tin-can beats, before he sails
away on a gentle breeze. Glammaster Gilder nailed a #1 on his sophomore
effort, City Nights, and then polished off the 70's with a near-perfect
supernova flourish, Frequency. Like a true 70's star, Gilder disappeared
(for the most part) with the delectable decade he helped define, running
away in the night, bidding fond farewell and never going back to his old
school, where he taught an endless wave of inferior influences the finer
points of back-street noise and plastic-metal joys. I envy anyone
experiencing this bliss for the first time.
-STONE, Cheap Trash NYC
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