Bram Tchaikovsky: Pressure

Bram Tchaikovsky: Pressure

1980

Polydor Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Let's Dance  2. Heartache  3. Letter From The USA  4. Can't Give You Reasons  5. Pressure  6. The Russians Are Coming  7. Hollywood Nightmare  8. Missfortune  9. Jeux Sans Frontieres (Game With No Rules)  10. Mister President  11. New York Paranoia


 Alright! Some more Bram Tchaikovsky...I did a post on his first album awhile back, which you can read here: http://fridaynightrecordparty.blogspot.com/2014/02/bram-tchaikovsky-strange-man-changed-man.html  

 "Pressure" is the U.S.version of Bram's second album, "The Russians Are Coming"...The title of the UK version is muuuuuch cooler, however, I have to give the edge to the US cover art, which continues the Russian Propaganda art theme, but does it with an attractive deep red. Much more striking than the British version which resembles the first album's color scheme a little too closely...

I've seen copies of the UK version at my local record store and the first couple of times it just scanned in my mind as the first album...Then I was confused when I turned it over and discovered it had the same songs as "Pressure" except they were just out of order.  I actually don't really see the point in this shuffled track list, since this record is so consistent...Probably even more so than their first album, however there's not really a song on "Pressure" that tops "Girl of My Dreams," or "Strange Man, Changed Man"...But I don't view that as a real drawback when there's stuff like "Jeux Sans Frontieres (Game With No Rules)" and "Can't Give You Reasons" on here...Power pop fans will lose their shit when they lay their ears on these songs...So much chime and jangle topped with liquid chrome harmonies...

Come to think of it, barring "Hollywood Nightmare," the singing isn't quite as jagged as on the previous album...The harmonies are extra smooth and blend together seamlessly this time...That's probably the reason this album is usually seen as the slightly weaker follow-up to "Strange Man..." It doesn't quite have the same raw excitement that album had...Again, not a big problem for me...A degree of slickness is practically a given in this genre...

Trust me, if you like guitars and harmonies, you're gonna need this record...Sure, not every track is a hit single, I could probably live without the trudging "Mister President" and the tracks where they dabble in old-timey rock n' roll are a bit weaker...But then you run across the perfect pop of "Let's Dance" or the positively epic "The Russians Are Coming" and you have no choice but to kick yourself for not hearing them sooner...Bram's CD catalog is woefully out of print, but you can still find this on vinyl for a pretty reasonable price, so I say comb the used bins and pick up both this and "Strange Man..." for a great pop-rock double-feature for your Friday night record party...

Here's "Can't Give You Reasons" by Bram Tchaikovsky...Enjoy...