Soldier-Talk

Soldier-Talk
Studio album by The Red Crayola
Released	1979
Genre	Post-punk, experimental rock
Length	35:45
Label	Radar (original release) Drag City (reissue)
Producer	Mayo Thompson, Geoff Travis
The Red Crayola chronology
Corrected Slogans (1976) Soldier-Talk (1979) Kangaroo? (1981)

Soldier-Talk is the third album by the experimental rock band The Red Crayola, released in 1979 through Radar Records. It was the first release under the name Red Crayola in over ten years. By this time, Thompson had moved the project to London and expanded the band to include Lora Logic of X-Ray Spex and all the members of Pere Ubu.^[1][2]

Background

Since the release of God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It, Steve Cunningham had left the project to peruse his own musical ambitions and had been replaced by Jesse Chamberlain. In 1978, this incarnation of the band was touring regularly and had been signed to Radar Records.^[3] While in Europe Thompson met Pere Ubu, who were touring in support of The Modern Dance, and struck up a friendship.

Composition

Despite the presence of Pere Ubu, the music is a close continuation of the sound previously established by Red Crayola. Soldier-Talk was conceived as a concept album dealing with the issues of militarism and Soviet communism.^[4][5]

Chamberlain wanted to veer the music towards a more pop oriented direction while Thompson opted to keep the sound experimental. As Thompson explained, "there wasn't much for him to do, in a way, I think he wanted to say what he felt about the record, and he wanted it closer in the direction of pop, because Jesse, that's always been one of his gifts, and I was determined to make the record work, and thought that it could, and should, and working with Geoff Travis, using his insights into the way music works, there was no other way it could be…" The conflict of interest caused a strain on their musical partnership and they have yet to work extensively on another project together.^[5]

Aftermath

Around the release of the album, Mayo Thompson became an active producer for many of the bands on the Rough Trade roster, including Stiff Little Fingers, The Fall and The Raincoats.^[6] He also became a member Pere Ubu, filling the spot left after Tom Herman's departure, and recorded The Art of Walking.^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
Pitchfork Media	(5.3/10)[8]
Piero Scaruffi	[9]

Bassist Mike Watt named Soldier-Talk as being one of his favorite rock albums.^[10] Thom Jurek of allmusic declared it "among the loopiest of the Red Krayola's offerings" and representative of "post-punk's more musically adventurous side." He gave the album three out of five stars, describing the songs as being independently compelling and engaging.^[7] Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork Media gave the album 5.3 out of 10 and was critical towards the overall abrasiveness of the music, writing "It's a consistently interesting album-- there's something trying to get your attention at every moment, but in the manner of a beloved little sibling who won't stop poking you." He concluded that the record is best suited for those who find Gang of Four's Entertainment! too subdued.^[8] Critic Piero Scaruffi lauded Soldier-Talk as Thompson's greatest accomplishment next to Parable of the Arable Land, calling it "eclectic to the point of lunacy, licentious to the limits of free-jazz, abstract as much as acid-rock can be, self-referential like postmodern art."^[9]

Track listing

Personnel

External links

• Soldier-Talk at Discogs (list of releases)

References