Thursday, September 22, 2016

Made In Japan - Instant Hit 7"

Untitled

HoZac (2016)

Another 7" from the random pack of records HoZac sent me to review.  I know that HoZac has been doing quite a few of these archival releases the last few years.  I've admitted it before and I'll repeat myself now, I've never been all that interested in the power pop scene from the late 70's and early 80's.  Not that I haven't heard plenty of good songs from that era, but it's just not something I get as excited about as a lot of others do.

With that said, the two songs on this Made In Japan 7" are pretty good.  Both are strong, catchy slices of power pop.  I don't think there's anything all that remarkable about either song, but they are both easy listens.  "Instant Hit" reminds me a bit of "Jesse's Girl," though a thousand times less cheesy. "You Never Had It So Good" on the flip side is actually my preference.  With its frantic chorus and bouncy bass lines it definitely gets my head nodding.

The issue I have with this 7", and also with a lot of records from this era, is that the recording quality is a bit muffled and stuffy.  I am not dumb, I realize that this was recorded in a completely different era, especially for punk bands, but it's just one of those things that always seems to jump out at me.  At the end of the day, it's a good enough little 7".  I'm not sure I would have bought it, but I'll be keeping it in the collection.

Made In Japan - "Instant Hit:

Made In Japan - "You Never Had It So Good":

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