Brian Plummer: I'm As Guilty As You Are (1981)

Canadian new wave conscript Brian Plummer's follow-up to to his simmering debut No Questions (see HERE) was the rock-steady-as-she-goes I'm As Guilty As You Are (1981).





Sound-wise, Plummer sticks to the reggafied new-wave pop-rock that defined his first album. While the debut's AOR-ish flourishes get less play here, no one's ever gonna mistake this for Damned, Damned, Damned. Visually, this time out the art director plays down the bearded-singer-songwriter angle with a plethora of vertical red lines.





Sefel Records (SEF 1002) LP, Canada, 1981

Tracklist
A1         The Fire-Eater        
A2         (At The End Of) The Monkey Line        
A3         Paper Star        
A4         Lisa        
A5         Caviar Or Ginseng        
B1         I'm As Guilty As You        
B2         Space Instead Of Lines        
B3         The King Of The Jungle        
B4         Such A Fuss        
B5         Steady Rain

Hey, MRML thanks for giving the first BP album a listen, let us know what you think of the second one in the COMMENTS section!

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Brian Plummer: No Questions (1980)

It's Canada Day, so let's re-up a neglected Northern Nugget:

This may be someone's temple
but it sure as Hell ain't mine
Brian Plummer, 1980

Curse the art director on the late Brian Plummer's No Questions for packaging the initial version of his debut as if it was a self-released album by some morose Canadian Christian folkie. Granted, Plummer is Canadian (from Saskatoon, no less) but other than that what you've got is a hooky-but-pissed-off North American New Wave/Rock album. His fellow late-seventies Canuck rockers like Doug and the Slugs and Phillip Rambow would sympathize as would his American counterparts like John Hiatt and Tonio K and, lest we forget, those Angry Young Englishman like Graham Parker and Elvis Costello.





Like so many North Americans, who could relate to the anger of punk but lacked the disdain of pop's status quo, Plummer sometimes aimed to the lighter AOR sound (check out that slick guitar solo in "Killing Time" or the sax break on "The Wizards Have Come"). That said, No Questions stays out of Eddie Money or Billy Joel territory, though the incursions into the Springsteen-land on tracks like "Full Moon on the Midway" are hard to miss. Both "Money Talks" and "Jacky Boy" were mid-level hits because Plummer had the good luck to be talented and unknown during a time the hopelessly staid Canadian radio industry was desperate for young(ish) musicians willing to play louder and meaner but still accept a lot of the old rules. The result, to these old Canadian ears, is a stinging record that while clearly a product of its times has kept its edge. I've kept returning to this album and keep finding little touches that remind me that good things can come in unsightly packages.





A1         Money Talks        
A2         No Questions        
A3         Jacky Boy        
A4         The Wizards Have Come        
A5         Roll Away The Stone        
B1         Full Moon On The Midway        
B2         Killing Time        
B3         Hole In The Wall        
B4         Change The World (If You Want)        
B5         Losing Touch


Hey, MRML readers, if you haven't already, give this album a little chance and let us know what you think in the COMMENTS section!

Follow @jeffen69


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