''Action Reaction'' is the debut album by American

Post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band Get Smart!, released on

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/d ...

' "Fever" imprint in 1984.

Info

It was originally announced, in Nebraska's "Capitol Punishment", that the album would be released on the "Fresh Sounds" label, which had previously released the band's debut single and the "Fresh Sounds" cassette, but the band eventually signed with the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

based "Fever Records" (not to be confused with the New York-based label of the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first name and surname. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after fou ...

), so the album was actually released on that label. The album was originally recorded by Michael McGee and produced by Taylor Ross at Media Sound in Oklahoma City. Ross then recruited

Iain Burgess Iain Burgess (24 November 1953 – 11 February 2010) was an English record producer and audio engineer. He helped define the sound of the Chicago post-punk music scene in the 1980s and early 1990s. Burgess worked with a number of key undergroun ...

to remix the album for release at Chicago Recording Company in Chicago. An earlier version of "Ankle Deep In Mud" had appeared on their debut single, "

Numbers and Colours "Numbers and Colours / Ankle Deep in Mud" is the debut release by the post-punk band Get Smart!. It was released as a 6-inch flexi disc that accompanied the May 13, 1981 issue of ''Talk Talk'' magazine. General info The song "Ankle Deep in M ...

", and an earlier version of "Black Mirror" has appeared on the "

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

#7" compilation cassette. All songs were written by the band, except for "Ankle Deep In Mud" which was written by Vance Lyons, and "Black Mirror" where the lyrics were written by Vance Lyons and the music was written by Get Smart!. (''Vance Lyons had played with Marc Koch in a previous band called the Battling Tops.'') Side 1 and Side 2 were originally supposed to be reversed, as the album was supposed to start with "On And On" and then end with "You've Got To Stop" (i.e. it would start with "On" and end with "Stop"), but for some unknown reason this was reversed in the final product.

Track listing

Side 1: #"Because Of Green" – 3:03 #"What It Is We Fear" – 3:18 #"Knight" – 2:18 #"Ankle Deep In Mud" – 4:55 #"You've Got To Stop" – 3:38 Side 2: #"On And On" – 2:02 #"Just For The Moment" – 2:23 #"The Difference" – 3:02 #"Face" – 2:36 #"Black Mirror" – 2:18 #"Berlin On The Plains" – 2:47 #"They Walk In Pairs " – 1:58

Personnel

*Marc Koch – vocals, guitar *Lisa Wertman Crowe – vocals, bass *Frank Loose – vocals, drums

Reception

* "This is what happened to Midwestern bar bands when they heard the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

. Lots of beat and jangle; it's raw and rocking" (Barbara Nellis,

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

, March 1985) * "Warm pop melodicism competes with punky bluntness and jagged noise tendencies on Action Reaction, creating a variety of stylistic voices within the plainly constructed guitar-bass-drums framework; harmony vocals add to the appeal." (Ira Robbins,

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

, 1986)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Action Reaction 1984 debut albums Albums produced by Iain Burgess Enigma Records albums Get Smart! (band) albums