Pearl Harbour

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too

(Liberation Hall)

Powerhouse vocalist Pearl was ably abetted on this1980 LP (now expanded and soon to be reissued on purple vinyl) by choice notables including Mick Jones. Topper Headon, Wilko Johnson, Gerraint Watkins, and Paul Simenon, whom she would subsequently wed. She abandoned the New Wave with which she'd initially reaped renown and leapt with gusto into Rockabilly ferocity and winsome, hand-holding Girl Group evocations. Vivacious and agile. Pearl and assembled associates were of head-turning caliber. They discharged modern brawn within traditional frames, and with meritorious results. It's baffling that the original wax didn't accrue greater wealth, given its quality and chronological situation. A resurgence of like styles was then gaining traction, led in the U.S. by Robert Gordon, the Rockats, and the Stray Cats. English sideburned upholders included Matchbox, Whirlwind, and numerous others. Liberation Hall is to be commended for reissuing this wrongly neglected work for crisp appreciation.

Recommended: "Alone In the Dark," "Fujiyama Mama," "Everybody's Boring But My Baby," "You're In Trouble Again," "Do Your Homework," "Cowboys & Indians," "Losing To You," "Filipino Baby," "Out With the Girls," "Heaven Is Gonna Be Empty," "Nerves," "Voodoo Voodoo," "I Can't Tell You On the Phone" (demo)

Video: "Cowboys & Indians"

Liberation Hall

MVD