Many folks seem to believe that
the Ramones
took the stage at CBGB one night in the mid-'70s, played a few fast and loud tunes, and the entire punk movement emerged fully formed in a matter of days. The truth is hardly that simple or convenient, and in the early days of the New York punk scene, there were plenty of bands playing in a wide variety of styles before punk became codified as a musical style rather than a way of doing things. The
Miamis
were regulars at CBGB (as well as Max's Kansas City, the Mudd Club, and many other clubs hosting underground rock bands in the Big Apple at the time) during their lifetime, and they had more than their share of scene cred, but they never released a record, and the collection
We Deliver: The Lost Band of the CBGB Era (1974-1979)
will give many historically minded rock fans their first chance to hear what they sounded like. One thing that's immediately clear is
the Miamis
were not punk rock, and not necessarily new wave, either. They were a pop band, and a good one, with a sharp melodies, solid guitar work, a great keyboard player, and a rhythm section that consistently delivered the goods, but if it weren't for their snarky sense of humor, one might never guess these guys had anything to do with punk's formative years. Of course, that's part of the point, and one of the reasons
didn't score a record deal in their salad days is that their music was too enthusiastic and upbeat for the folks who had heard about that punk rock stuff happening in New York, while the slightly spiky humor of tunes like "Dancin' Together," "We Need a Bigger Navy," "Wang It," and "Another Place, Another Time" would have kept the band away from AM radio. (The
also display a fascination for football that suggests they wanted to do for the gridiron what
the Dictators
did for wrestling.) If
had learned to rock harder, they might have been rivals with
Cheap Trick
, and if they'd gotten leaner and snarkier, they would have been in a league with
the Dickies
. (Or at least
Blotto
.) As it was,
opted to do things their own way, and this set of unreleased studio sessions and demos shows they had the talent for bigger things, if not the best sense of how to market themselves. (And the live tracks from a two-day stand at CBGB in 1978 demonstrates that they were a fine live act.)
We Deliver
is a historical document that lends a fresh perspective to the early days of the punk/new wave movement, as well as an entertaining introduction to a band that deserved a better break. ~ Mark Deming