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Years '77-'78, roaring years, golden years. In the London of punk, four kids in leather jackets walk at night kicking cans and making heavy comments about the unfortunate women of the moment. Hotheads with a soft spot for real music, the Stranglers quickly revealed that in them, punk was only the attitude; because, as angry and restless as they wanted to be, despite J.J. Burnel's cute face and Dave Greenfield's "family doctor" look, once the instruments were on, many had to take their hats off from the beginning.
"Rattus Norvegicus" is the epochal debut, where it was immediately apparent how the immediacy of punk could go hand in hand with the melodic grafts of guitars and especially keyboards, played with an uncommon technique. The profile is completed by Burnel's bass, which sounds like a chainsaw inside a steel pipe, and the powerful voice of the hard and pure leader Hugh Cornwell. The rhythms are often relentless, as befits those who have little time to waste and throw things in your face, but it’s harmonious anger, that of the Stranglers, sometimes epic. Listen, for example, to "Sometimes", "Hanging Around", and especially "No more Heroes", an anthem that will be the sound mirror of a generation. The band's third work is this "Black and White," an album with manichean intentions from the cover, in strict black and white, and with a tracklist deliberately organized into a white side and a black side. More than a stylistic intent, for the group it’s an opportunity to take stock of themselves and play with the lights and shadows of its multifaceted identities. Until then, there had been little time to think, and the clock didn't seem to want to stop running. "Black and White" is indeed the third album in two years, but the impression is that more than wanting to burn out, these guys are genuinely having fun.
The first side, the white one, goes down in one gulp: it transitions from the blasts amid swirls of keyboards in "Tank", to the squared-up mix of "Nice'n Sleazy" a successful single; from the electronic waltz of "Outside Tokyo" to the lively hard-core of "Hey! (Rise Of The Robot)" up to the bass-drum assaults of "Sweden", a track with lyrics -and video- to say the least grotesque. It closes, maintaining the tight rhythms, with the epic "Toiler on the Sea", featuring significant guitar interventions and crazy keyboards sharing the scene. The black side is instead led by Burnel, who sings almost all the pieces, and immediately presents itself as darker and more experimental. If "Curfew" still travels on lively lines, the tones of "Threatened" and "In the Shadows" evoke nocturnal industrial suburbs, always thanks to Greenfield's imaginative tricks, a sharp and affected bass, and a dragged voice as if after a binge. Following are "Do you Wanna" and "Night and Death and Blood", which on a casual listen seem like one because they’re cleverly linked; however, while the first is still the gasp of a brawling thug, the second boasts a punch of great impact and ranks among the best on the record. The concluding "Enough time" is instead sharp and cold, closing as you would not expect, winking at Kraftwerk.
The CD reissue features other episodes from that period but not included in the project: among these is the stunning reinterpretation of Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By", enhanced by elegant organ touches and centered around a long instrumental digression where the group showcases its entire repertoire. Also noteworthy is "Old Codger", another cover with jazz musician George Melly on vocals, and an alternate version of "Sweden" re-sung, coincidentally, in Swedish.
Some curious anecdotes reported in the booklet: the album was promoted in Iceland, among great colds, binge drinking, concerts in violent venues, and continuous physical-verbal battles with pesky journalists, some of whom were victims of heavy pranks at the hands of our boys. Hence the bad boy reputation for a group that altogether was no more boisterous than many of their contemporaries. But the fortune of "Black and White" won't depend solely on the newspaper chronicles about its creators, because it thrives perfectly in its own light. Perhaps too smooth and fast on first listen, you have to give it the right times and the songs come out as cannon blasts, just to stay on theme. It's true, maybe there was ("Rattus Norvegicus") and there will be ("The Raven") even better; but there is no doubt that this record, and its designer cover, have decisively contributed to the quartet's place among music icons.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tank (02:57)
I Can Sign For 1 2 3 or 4
Get 3 Weeks off In A Year Or More
Save Up And Get My Very Own SLR
'Cos I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Can You Seen The bullet's high velocity
It Can Blow A Man's Arm Off At The Count Of Three
If I Get My Hands On One Of Those
I'm Something To Watch Out For
I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can
Yes I Can
I don't care where They Send Me Now
Send Pictures Postcards To My Ol' Mother And Father
So When I Come Home They'll Have someone to be proud Of
I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
Yes I Can Drive (Drive) My Very Own Tank
02 Nice 'n' Sleazy (03:10)
We came acoss the West Sea
We didn't have much idea
Of the kind of climate waiting
We used our hands for guidance
Like the children of a preacher
Like a dry tree seeking water
Or a daughter
Nice 'n' sleazy
Nice 'n' sleazy does it
Does it every time.
An angel came from outside
Had no halo
Had no father
With a coat of many colours
He spoke of brothers many
Wine and women
Song aplenty
He began to write a chapter
In history
Nice 'n' sleazy
Nice 'n' sleazy does it
Does it every time.
03 Outside Tokyo (02:08)
Somewhere outside Tokyo
Invented time
Someone in a factory
Invented time
If people wanted proof to
Carry on they'd like to buy one
50 million watches with a
Strap to sell
50 million watches with a
Strap to sell
If people wanted proof to
Carry on they'd like to buy one
If they should ever sell out
That would be the end of (time)
Be the end of (time)
Be the end of time
04 Sweden (All Quiet on the Eastern Front) (02:50)
Let me tell you about Sweden
Only country where the clouds are interesting
Big brother says it's the place to go
Too much time to think, too little to do
Too much time to think, too little to do
Too much time, too little to do
'Cos it's all quiet on the Eastern front
Fluctuations at a minimum
Hypochondriac tombstone
Sense of humour's gone astray somewhere
Too much time to think, too little to do
Too much time to think, too little to do
Too much time, too little to do
'Cos it's all quiet on the Eastern front
Cumulus nimbus floats by
Fluctuations at a minimum
Hypochondriac tombstone
Big brother says it's the place to go
It's all quiet on the Eastern front
(All quiet on the Eastern front)
It's all quiet on the Eastern front
(All quiet on the Eastern front)
It's all quiet on the Eastern front
It's all
Quiet
06 Toiler on the Sea (05:35)
I had a woman ship
I took her overseas
She left her hold unlocked
I had to find a dock
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
We didn't use cruel words
To navigate cruel seas
The wind was biting hard
At times I had to scream
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
And when we reached the land
We went aground on the rocks
Became a wreck in the sand
Became a home for a flock
We ventured overland
Fought with the aliens
The young ones used their hands
Pointed the way to a flock
A flock of seagulls!
A flock of seagulls!
Then we retraced our steps
Rebuilt the woman ship
I took her back up north
I lost her in the fog
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler on the sea
I was a toiler
I was a toiler
I was a toiler
On the sea
On the sea
I was a toiler
I was a toiler
On the sea
I was a toiler
A toiler
A toiler
07 Curfew (03:17)
The enemy has cut down all the power
London south of The Thames s invaded
Westminster is raised down to the ground
The Government Has Fled
The Government Has Fled
The Government Has Fled for Scotland today
It Becomes Black And White
Is It True What They Say?
They Turn The Day Into Night
Black And White Becomes
The Government has fled into thin air
What's Left Of Our Troops Has Joined The Scots
To Form In defense across the North
Stay In Your Homes
Stay In Your Homes
Be Off The Streets By Nightfall
It Becomes Black And White
Is It True What They Say?
They Turn The Day Into Night
Black And White Becomes
Germany Failed To Protect All Borders
Had Grown Soft With The American Dream
The Men From The Steppes Delivered Their Vacuum
A New Kind Of freedom
Freedom's A Chain
Maybe I'll Find Love When There's Nothing To Do
It Becomes Black And White
Is It True What They Say?
They Turn The Day Into Night
Black And White Becomes
10 In the Shadows (04:37)
When you're walking on the streets at night
You turn around and die of fright
What's that in the shadows?
What's that in the shadows?
Walking down the streets at night
Turn around and you can die of fright
Walking on the streets at night
Turn around and die of fright
What's that in the shadows?
What's that in the shadows?
Is it a dog?
Is it a cat ?
Is it a dog?
What do you think of that?
When you're walking on the streets at night
Turn around and die of fright
What's that in the shadows?
What's that in the shadows?
Is it a dog?
Is it a cat ?
Is it a dog?
What do you think of that?
When you're walking on the streets at night
Moving, shiny, bright
Walking on the night
When you're walking on the streets at night
Look around you
Look around you
When you're walking on the streets at night
When you turn around and die of fright
Who's there in the shadows?
What's that in the shadows?
What's that in the shadows?
Look around you
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