Martin Rev - S/T Suicide always skated the line between the electronic wave bubbling up under the analog surface of the 70's and punk, though they always seemed to align themselves with the latter even if the audiences didn't take to
their brand of snarling minimal crush. Released in 1980, the same year as their Ric Ocasek produced second album, Martin Rev brought together a collection of tracks for Charles Ball's Lust/Unlust imprint, also home to DNA and Dark Day. There's decidedly less sheen than Suicide's second shot, but in spots the album does embrace a bit more of the pop aspect that bubbled underneath much of their catalog. Though Rev was just as fond of meandering clouds of synth dust storming over a beat so metronomic that listeners can't help but zone out and flow with the tide of his squall and there's a fair amount of that at work here as well. The album didn't make Rev a solo name, and it was certainly overshadowed by the group's main effort of the same year, but it stands as an odd touchstone of the rise of synth pop that rode several waves over the next few decades. Superior Viaduct has recently thrust it back into the spotlight and into the hands of a public that might now be more willing to accept it. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE