The Bongos hailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, becoming one of the most celebrated of the early 80s New York City post-punk groups. Their cult following has since grown to justify this attractivelypackaged reissue of their 1982 debut. Mainly recorded in Surrey with Ken Thomas producing, it’s joined by 10 live tracks and a fullbodied 2006 version of The Bulrushes, produced and played on by Moby.
On the surface, singer/ guitarist/leader Richard Barone, bassist Rob Norris and drummer Frank Giannini traversed the quirky power-pop end of the post-punk spectrum, but songs such as Video Eyes and Automatic Doors are shot through with diverse undercurrents and manic energy. Throbbing Gristle were fans and they appear on tracks recorded in 1981 at London’s Rainbow Theatre, including a raging take on In The Congo.
Reference points are wide and tasty, including US psych bands such as Fever Tree and early Love, while Zebra Club twists the riff from the Flamin’ Groovies’ Shake Some Action. There’s also a gorgeous version of T.Rex’s Mambo Sun. The adventurously effective Certain Harbours adds squalling free jazz saxophone and Cosey’s cornet to add another dimension. Barone has a Tony Visconti-produced solo album looming, but this is well worth investigating for devotees of a bygone hotbed.
