Search - Pursuit of Happiness :: Love Junk

Wonderful '80s power pop from the north

Mark Feldman | Berkeley, CA | 12/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A friend of mine recently quipped "Hmmm, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn... Canadians make great folk music, but how many good Canadian *rock* artists have there been, other than Rush? Bryan Adams? Corey Hart?" Well, here's my answer. TPOH never really hit it big, but they really should have, especially with this album. Moe Berg and friends took some fairly obvious cues from Todd Rundgren's early '80s work with Utopia, fattened it up to a later '80s sound, and pulled off some killer hooks and melodies. Rundgren produced this album, of course, and it has his signature densely-layered feel. Check out the perfectly-layered background vocals on Ten Fingers and When the Sky Comes Falling Down, the hilariously candid lyrics of Looking for Girls and I'm An Adult Now, the driving polyrhythms of Walking in the Woods, the expansive, almost-prog-like Tree of Knowledge, and the near-perfect Rubber-Soul era Beatle imitation She's So Young. This is the '80s mega-hit that never was. Crank it up."

I love this album

J. White | 06/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Throughout my life I have tended to ignore my older albums in my constant quest for new music. Love Junk by TPOH has always been exception. I thought there must be something wrong with me because I kept going back to listen to this one. In my opinion this may be one of the most unfairly ignored albums of all time. I am glad to see that there are a few others out there who share my opinion. My personal favorites on this album are "Man's Best Friend", "Hard To Laugh", "Beautiful White", and "I'm An Adult Now"."

A thoroughly worthy effort

Charles Sikkenga | Grand Haven, MI USA | 08/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I guess TPOH could've been North America's answer to the Hoodoo Gurus. I mean hey, they were catchy as heck and they rocked. Unfortunately,like those Aussies, they were also too smart and funny for the mainstream, but a little too mainstream for the edgy crowd,and those that remember their 15 minutes of mainstream fame back in the late fall of '88, probably think they were a novelty band.



Which is a shame, as the totally awesome "Love Junk" amply displays. It contains the closest thing the band ever had to a hit "I'm An Adult Now." With its half-sung, half-spoken lyrics, humorous outlook and over the top guitars, it comes off as something as a gag--sort of a thinking man's take on "Fight For Your Right To Party." Yet, behind it all are lyrics that ring increasingly true the older you get. For this aging rocker the song was great when I was 18, better when I was 28 and, I suspect, will be more meaningful yet when I turn 38 next year. The only downer about it is I can never find it at a Karaoke bar.



Its also a shame that few dug deeper than the one track, as several others, especially the power pop gem "She's So Young" are completely excellent. They're convincing on both the ballads and the harder stuff (especially lead track "Hard To Laugh") and the entire album features really sweet boy/girl harmonies. Todd Rundgren's production polishes things to a super-glossy sheen, but those production values have held upper better than a lot of other stuff from the era and the album still sounds quite fresh today.



Even if you don't listen to loud music anymore, its more than worth your time and money to get reacquainted with this one."