This remaster/reissue of the early Modern Lovers material is nothing short of brilliantly simple, melodic, innovative and cutting edge rock that preceeds the climate of music within the next few years in the face of punk rock. For years, I have always heard this release referenced in terms of the new generation of rock music; in other words, getting back to basics, which were the ethos of punk to begin with. The Modern Lovers featured guitarist/singer/writer Jonathan Richman, Jerry Harrison(keys--later Talking Heads), David Robinson(drums--later the Cars) and bassist Ernie Brooks. Key tracks are Roadrunner, She Cracked, Pablo Picasso, Modern World and Someone I Care About in terms of the spontaneity and earnestness within the performances contained. The Lovers are caught somewhere between the artiness of the Velvet Underground and the bravado of the MC5, culminating in an interesting hybrid of unknown originality. Richman's vocal style is extremely uninhibited, yet sounds as though his voice could crack at any moment, while also mixing in a careless vibe undertone on tracks like Hospital or Old World, displaying a quality that Tom Verlaine would adopt as his own vocal style within Television, for example.

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Although the band had split well before these recordings were made available(first glimpse was in 1976), the remastered version I have features the full album(10 cuts) with 8 bonus tracks added, including alternate takes of Someone I Care About, Modern World and Roadrunner. There's also a track credited to Richman and Iggy Pop, apparently a song called I Wanna Sleep in Your Arms; rather upbeat and very Stooge-esque but more tonally safe and proficient as rendered by the band. Other cuts of mention are Dignified and Old, which has a pop quality underlined within its main melody, Government Center is a funny, upbeat track that rocks and rolls along with a quirkiness, while I'm Straight, features a dirge-like sparseness before building into a great refrain at the end;  lyrically, it smites the stoned hippy persona as Jonathan proudly touts the claim of "I'm Straight", a little "tongue-in-cheek", dry humor is felt on this track. All told, this collection of tracks by an unknown band of talented musicians remains an influential, critical stepping stone towards the impending punk revolution and no fan of the genre should go without hearing it. 

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Rating Grade- A