The Del-Byzanteens
Lies To Live By

THE REVIEW

Del Byzan... who? Objection sustained without reservations: of this quintet, a meteoric presence in alternative N.York in the distant '82, there is indeed scant trace, only unearthed by digging through some period magazines. Forgotten, and wrongly so, even by the historians specializing in new wave, they meanwhile boast an underground (as it were) pedigree of considerable merit: the Braun twins (here on assorted percussion) had dabbled with bass and synth in the lamented Circus Mort, the guitarist had lent his instrument (and chrysanthemums) to Robin Crutchfield's cemeterial Dark Day (ex-DNA) while vocals and keys were none other than Jim Jarmusch, who would later find better and deserved fortune in the film director’s booth (remember "Down by Law" with Benigni, Tom Waits, and John Lurie?).

Lineage aside, it is in this, I believe, sole LP that our group honors themselves, navigating the perimeter of the electro-metropolitan sound outlined by Talking Heads and Polyrock, but with their own production ideas, combined with an uncommon taste for mixing cards and eclecticism.

On Side A, devoted to a song-form, as it was said at the time, "oblique," the band allows themselves some unconventional touches (acoustic guitar solos and flute (!) counterpoints in "War", west-coast psychedelic vocal memories in the cover of "Sally go Round the Roses") in a context of subtly nervous rhythms and politely dissonant harmonies of pure New York breed, with sometimes spectacular results (listen to the "title track": a small miracle of musical intelligence with a chorus that, once entered, will not leave your brain).

Turning the platter, the atmosphere darkens, and the cadences tighten, but even in a gloomy environment, the five manage without muddling to blend sounds that are vastly different from each other. Percussionism at the limits of industrial serves as a backdrop to sinister Gregorian vocals in the other great track of the record: "Girls Imagination" where there are even Middle Eastern suggestions (!).  After the robotic obsession of "Welcome Machines", it closes with the intricate instrumental nightmare of "Apartment 13", unsettling in its jerky progression like a session of the Inquisition Tribunal.

Having arrived when the end credits on the new wave scene were already rolling and lasting a mere moment, the Del-Byzanteens deserve more attention than many others from the period... it's worth it.