One group in my collection that doesn't quite fit in with my other musical tastes is the distinct sound of British post punk band, The Stranglers. They first hit my rader when I heard their song, Golden Brown on the soundtrack to Guy Ritchie's movie, Snatch.  I soon became a fan and have a nice collection of albums by The Stranglers

Who are The Stranglers?

The band hails from Britain and was at the height of their popularity in the 1980s. They are considered punk rock, post punk and new wave.  The members during the eighties were

Hugh Cornwell - guitars, lead vocals
David Greenfield - keyboards, vocals
Jean Jacques Burnel - bass, lead vocals
Jet Black - Drums

Dreamtime

Dreamtime was released in 1986, and was the band's ninth album. The cover features shilouettes of the band in Australian aborigine garb with decorative sticks against a hot Australian sunset. 

The album begins with a radio airplay hit, Always the Sun.   I remember it being a college radio staple, since I was a college senior that year. You may recall the song's catchy hook

There's always the sun
There's always the sun
Always, always, always the sun

The song had a laid back vibe to it.

The album's second track was the title track Dreamtime, which is about myth in the Australian Aborigine culture, "dreamtime". It begins with a hynotic sounding drum beat and guitar riff. The song is like the title suggests dream like in its quality. 

"The only way for us to be alone
into the earth and in the stone
when you wanna be on your own, is dreamtime.

You can distinctly hear the vibratone melodies between choruses that gave The Stranglers their distinctive sound.

Although Was it You? has a generic forgettable sound, You'll Always Reap what you Sow has that 80's quality that sounds like it was in every 80's teen romantic comedy (although it was not in any of them). It has that slow romantic ballad sound with heavy synth hooks.

Ghost Train begins interestingly enough with train sound effects speeding back and forth in your stereo channels.  It blends a fifties rockabilly vibe with new wave.  Nice is Nice is another generic sounding filler.  Big in America again has that fifties rockabilly vibe but with an underlying digaroo sound instead of stand up bass!  It makes the song interesting.  A big sax solo comes in later in the song that definitely has that swing vibe to it. I quite liked this song.

The song has three more tracks, Shakin' like a Leaf, Mayan Skies and Too Precious.

Summary

There are a lot of Stranglers albums that I like better than this, but Dreamtime is a fun listen, has a few really good songs, and is overall a good album to put on when you are working around the house. 



Recommended: Yes