This 16-track CD pads out
Come On's slim discography by packing the single "A Kitchen in the Clouds"/"Don't Walk on the Kitchen Floor" with eight songs recorded live at CBGB's in October 1978, one done live at Hurrah in January 1980, and five demos/outtakes. Disappointingly, there are no historical liner notes whatsoever on this band (whom hardly anyone knows about), although there are plenty of photos and full song lyrics. Is this material enough to qualify them as a great lost New York punk/new wave band? Hardly. It's self-consciously clever and arty, but not compelling. The
Talking Heads comparisons will inevitably be sparked by the discomfiting, jerky funk-rock rhythms and Jamie Kaufman's semi-deranged vocals. The angular guitar leads, edgy and devoid of conventionally pleasing melodicism, might also remind some listeners of
Television, although
Come On weren't too similar to that group. The songs are stark, dispassionate miniatures about mundane annoyances and everyday trivialities ("My Neighbor Makes Noise," "Housewives Play Tennis") or contrived absurdities ("Businessmen in Space," "A Kitchen in the Clouds"). Kaufman hates "Disneyland," he gripes, because Mickey didn't shake his hand. Now there's a premise for a song that is neither clever nor funny. ~ Jimmy James