Nikki Sudden, The French Revolution

condition (record/cover): EX+ / EX-

Though Nikki Sudden's liner notes claim that "half of the rhythm section lost all of their enthusiasm" during the making of Groove, that laziness is nowhere evident in the final product. A big, swaggering, barnburner of a record, Groove pits toothy chords against thundering drums, making for what could best be described as post-punk designed to fill Madison Square Garden. The only thing that keeps the affair from being a full-blown bow to stadium rock is Sudden's wobbly, nasal vocals and his stubborn refusal to bow to conventional song structure. Forget anthemic singalong choruses -- Sudden's songs are all verse. Though scattered moments recall the stomp and pout of Marc Bolan, Sudden is too obtuse to be especially sexy. The brash, furious "Great Pharoah" has a two-note vocal melody, and the mournful cover of Neil Young's "Captain Kennedy" is interrupted up by long, loping guitar interludes. Groove works because it revels in the tension between the muscular arrangements and Sudden's passive drawl.