SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VIVABEAT – PARTY IN THE WARZONE & THE HOUSE IS BURNING

VIVABEAT
PARTY IN THE WARZONE & THE HOUSE IS BURNING
RUBELLAN REMASTERS

Vivabeat is one of those bands that showed a great deal of promise in the 1980s but never really reached their commercial potential. That doesn’t mean their music wasn’t good, quite the opposite, but somehow they got lost in the shuffle. That is a shame because they produced really interesting, unique music that should have got them the attention they deserved. Rubellan Remasters are trying to correct that by releasing two albums of their back catalogue.

They have the distinction of being discovered by Peter Gabriel and through him they were the first U.S band signed to the UK-based label Charisma Records. They released their debut album, Party In The Warzone in 1979. The album was a typical new wave/synthpop album and it was expertly produced with catching synth based pop songs. It is actually very good and deserved a much better fate than it was dealt. The opening track, “Working For William” has a slight Lene Lovich vibe going on, but it is a really interesting song with a great melody that is, in some ways, a little eerie. This leads into “From The Bop”, which is a perfect artifact from the time. It is dated but sounds lovely. It took me back to the summer of 1980.  The album also contains their most famous song “Man From China”.

This re-release features ten previously unreleased songs. While the alternative versions are interesting, they do not add a great deal to the original album. The previously unreleased songs, such as “On Patrol” and “Shine” demonstrate their ambition to be a bit more experimental and harder. But the star of the new release is the entire album, which holds up as a snapshot of a time and an era. Like the original album, the remaster and remix sound great and the album sounds very bright and more sparse than earlier pressings.

Vivabeat did not release any more albums, but they did release a rare self-titled EP, interestingly, by at this point, the former Japan guitarist Rob Dean. All of the songs from this EP are included on the compilation album, The House Is Burning. There are some repeat songs from their debut album, but there are some very interesting tracks here. “Henry James”, forever, shows a direction that one cannot help but wish the band had gone. Again, this compilation is jammed full of very melodic songs and polished tunes. Again, given their talent, it is a bit bewildering the band could not gain more attention and a bigger fan base, although they did have their music in a film, and they did win a MTV Music Video for “The House is Burning (but there’s no one home).”

These releases are essential in that they keep their music available to old fans and may attract new admirers of their early 1980s music. It also serves as a tribute to the four members who have since passed away, Alec Murphy, Connie DiSilva, Terrence Robay, and Doug Orilio. Both have been lovingly restored and sound great. Vivabeat reminds music fans that there were a lot of bands in the 1980s that just never broke into the mainstream and have been, sadly, forgotten over time. These two albums provide a strong argument to start digging through the archives for some bands to be rediscovered (Dear Enemy, The Call, Misex are all good examples).

However, these two releases are welcomed and very enjoyable. This was a band that was talented and wrote great songs. One can only imagine what they could have done with the proper support and the opportunity to continue to grow. Welcome back to the world of music, Party In The Warzone and The House Is Burning.

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