POLL Your Sons: Songs from the Film by Tommy Keene

There are very few wrong answers here--I think the album peters out a little bit on the last two tracks, and I only gradually warmed to the Lou Reed cover--but "Underworld" is very likely one of my five or so favourite songs of all time. Tommy had said in later interviews that he was encouraged by his label not to come out (he didn't publicly do so until the mid 2000s), but I hear him hinting, however opaquely, at something queer in that song.

Isn't the single version of "Places That Are Gone" superior to this LP take? It's the one found on the "Real Underground" comp.

Are you referring to this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bkClnFTYEU

Its definitely rawer, plus it has that intro. I think I prefer the LP version, but I've known it way longer.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Haven't unpacked my albums yet, but I'll give this another listen when I do. I know it's considered a great lost power-pop album. It didn't make a lasting impression on me when I bought it, but that was years ago, so I don't know.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I clearly overestimated Keene’s fan base among our ranks. Probably shoulda figured as much, given that this is the first ever thread devoted to him here.

I love Tommy Keene but have only listened to certain albums over the years

I suppose he's never had that moment that would give him a wider profile amongst indie types beyond 'venerable power-pop guy'. Unless this and 'Places' counts? He's played with people of a much higher profile than his but I suppose he's a little taken for granted?

I'd heard his name but never listened to him until recently. I found this record frustrating - too many songs didn't communicate anything other than an application of craft. I hate Bryan Adams, but at least you understand the effect his songs are meant to have. At the same time, Keene doesn't go into the more complex or cerebral territory of Scott Miller or pursue the atmosphere of contemporary R.E.M. Too often, listening to these songs, I was left wondering, "Is this subtle, or just dull"?
I preferred the songs from the Run Now EP (included on the CD of this album), most of which were cut a couple of years earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jt863ZP2Ww

Given the songs from the album proper, I'd have voted for "Underworld" or maybe "Gold Town".

I don't really dig his mid-late 80s material, but that has way more to do with the relentless samey-ness of the power-pop or college rock sound from that era. So that means I probably tuned out before even giving it a proper try. Even that song suffers from some of the more obvious tropes like the big snare and that typical mid tempo speed, but I really enjoyed it. It's just that none of it really stands out among all the other songs in that genre from that period unless you're paying close attention.

A couple of things I've read have attacked the album's slick production, but to me it neither helps nor hurts. If the songs themselves stood out more, the sonics wouldn't sink them.

underworld

Heh, I love the 80s material as it fits in with many other bands from the era I still dig.

Tommy had an earnestness to him that I found really compelling. Yes, there were musical tropes that you could point to that were overused at the time, but his lyrics and delivery always kept me engaged. It was that quality that I found slipped by the mid-90s. The "Sleeping On A Rollarcoaster" EP was his last great release for me, "Love Is A Dangerous Thing" and "Waiting To Fly" really stood out to me at that point in my life.