Abacab (1981)

Artist: Genesis
Release Year: 1981

Rating: 8/10

Track Listing: 1) Abacab; 2) No Reply at All; 3) Me and Sarah Jane; 4) Keep It Dark; 5) Dodo/Lurker; 6) Who Dunnit; 7) Man on the Corner; 8) Like It or Not; 9) Another Record.

And finally, we arrive at the endpoint of the transformation.  The best feature of this album is that they ditched the prog aspirations before they threw out the desire for experimentation.  Yes, these are all pop songs, firmly in the New Wave vein that had taken over by 1981, but there's more than enough humor and general quirkiness to keep me happily entertained throughout.

The peppy and driving title track is full of nice effects and little nonsense vocal twists that almost turn into full hooks, but don't quite manage it.  A real shame that the production buried the guitars so far down, especially in the instrumental section, because Rutherford is playing some cool minimalistic New Wave licks under all those monotone drums and synths.  I prefer the bigger hit "No Reply at All", which is pure classic Phil, from the brass accents to his unmistakably exasperated vocal sound.  I think that quick "the buck stops he-ee-ere" moment in the bridge is my favorite moment on the album.

Maybe there are still some vestiges of prog, but by now they're just flavor to make the pop smart and distinguishable.  For instance, the centerpiece "Dodo/Lurker" starts out with some aggressive rocking verses, interspersed with some subdued ruminations that sound like a resentful beast under the ocean, waiting to rise.  Maybe that rising is what's depicted in the synth washes afterward... but those just pivot us into the humorous "Lurker" section, with that synth riff that won't leave your head for days.  And I like "Me and Sarah Jane", although the disparate elements within took about a dozen listens to gel together in my brain.  Once you manage it, though, it's an essential part of the record.  

The one atrocity is the nauseating "Who Dunnit?", which I assume was meant as a joke, but there's difference between being tongue-in-cheek, and taking the gimmick and running with it.  I can't stomach the offbeat bleating of "we know, we don't know" for more than five seconds.  They're not Gentle Giant, and this isn't "Knots" (and I still have trouble with that one too, but I digress).  

Probably the biggest shock is how much I love the dusky "Man on the Corner": it's moody and mysterious without being melodramatic, and the bridge is surprisingly emotional.  "Like a monkey on your back, you need it...but do you love it enough to leave it?"  Not the most profound statement out there, but it works.  Otherwise, you've got the wonky, weirdly infectious "Keep It Dark", and a pair of more generic pop tracks at the end that are acceptable, no more and no less, carried along by the strength of what came before.

Yeah, Tony is all over the place here, but in this case I'll give him a pass.  As long as the music is light and dynamic enough to not get bogged down in synthfests, I'm happy enough.