Heavy Rotation - Moving Units & Duran Duran

The Moving Units finally released their debut LP this week and it's getting a fair amount of play on the old hi-fi. Dangerous Dreams may have arrived too late to cash in the on the whole second wave of post punk thing, as so many people would appear to be over that scene. It's too bad, because I almost think that these guys are one of the better bands of the bunch. I know for sure that I'd rather listen to this record than The Rapture's Echoes - it's got many of the same ingredients, but is a good deal grimier, and not so concerned with the electronic sheen. There is a wee bit of that, but it doesn't detract from the drums-bass-guitar thing going on. Bricks & Mortar starts of with a tight beat, some dubby echo, and then slams into one of the best jams James Chance / White never wrote. A huge bass riff and some shreddingly sharp guitar made this track jump out at me right away. Fierce.

Also getting max exposure on my stereo is Astronaut, the new album by the recently reunited original lineup of Duran Duran. It's fun to see and hear the guys again. The music isn't a quite up to par with those first 2 records from the '80s - as my bro pointed out to me, the music is not too far from the records that Simon and Nick and Warren recorded as Duran in the '90s - they rock, they funk, and there are some ballads.If you're a fan of the band you know that the lyrics are going to be goofy and some of them are. Bedroom Toys is one of the tunes that I liked right off. It's co-produced by Nile Rodgers so it's not a surprise to hear the very Chic-like rhythm guitar. A mid tempo funker, it's got typically poppin' John Taylor bass, cooing backups, and a silly Simon rap. I love it. Not a patch on Planet Earth but it'll do.