The key to the success of the
Pretty Things
first studio recording in 19 years is that most of it sounds as if it were made during their mid-'60s heyday rather than at the time of their early '80s demise. It's downfall is overwrought, out-of-style songs like
"Love Keeps Hanging On,"
which sounds like something the fictional band,
Strange Fruit
, would've come up with. Cover songs like
"Eve of Destruction"
and
"Play with Fire"
are completely redundant, yet the openers, the jangly guitar workout,
"Passion of Love,"
and the
Bo Diddley
-beat tribute to an old bandmate,
"Vivian Prince,"
make the disc worthwhile. ~ Denise Sullivan