Now this is more like it! After a great debut 45 and a disappointing 12″, the LYRES have returned to top form with “Help You, Ann.” It’s a great ’60s punk-type number with an ultra-cool tremelo guitar; the flip is another nasty cut with one of those endlessly recycled ’60s guitar riffs.
Although the superb re-recorded versions of “Don’t Give It Up Now” and “Help You Ann” alone almost make this album worth buying, a series of horrible cover versions (including “I Confess” and two KINKS kompositions—”Live Me Till the Sun Shines” and “Tired of Walking”) and uninspired originals conspire to undermine its overall value. Boston’s LYRES are potentially a great ’60s-style punk band, but except for a triad of gems (“I’m Tellin’ You, Girl,” “The Way I Feel About You,” and “Not Like the Other One”), they don’t live up to that potential here.
A three-song job that’s just OK, lacking any real wallop or magic. LYRES supply minimal rockin’ ’60s pop, and in the past have come up with real gems. None here, though; maybe they “gave it up now.”
Boston really loves its rock ’n’ roll. MISSION OF BURMA aren’t hardcore or the typical Boston bar band. This first album is faster and louder than their other stuff, at least most of the time. The almost accidental meshing of the guitars is better than ever.
BURMA’s sound meant a lot to me when they were around; swirling waves of guitar, nervous psycho vocals, and muscular bass and rhythm attacks. This live release lives up to the quality of previous recordings; all unreleased tracks, and if you think they might have been wimpy, check out their covers of the STOOGES’ “1970” and PERE UBU’s “Heart of Darkness.”
