Neats - Monkey's Head in the Corner of the Room

All Music Guide

The defining track on this 1982 EP is the leadoff song, "Red and Grey," which pointed the way to the brooding college rock of the Neats' eponymous debut LP the next year. Like the early songs of their contemporaries REM, "Red and Grey" has a distinctly pre-psychedelic 1960s folk-rock sound, but the Neats sound less like the Byrds and more along the lines of the Zombies, the Left Banke, and Simon Garfunkel's electric outings. There is a dark shadow of melancholy that looms over much of the Neats' early material (they later transformed themselves into a blooze-rock outfit), and "Red and Grey" was the first signal of their intent. The song is an autumnal anthem that calls to mind similar bands of the time, like Los Angeles' Dream Syndicate and the Rain Parade. Over clean chiming guitars and simple beats, singer/guitarist Eric Martin sings his contemplative lyrics exploring personal moments with vivid imagery and a rich voice. "Ashes to ashes comes the light/Up from the middle, if you cou...ld leave with me tonight," he sings on "Red and Grey." "He thinks of things that could have made his day/The green and yellow, red and grey." The band is steady on The Monkey's Head in the Corner of the Room, eschewing lead guitar soloing and instead accenting droning rhythms, like contemporaries the Feelies. The guitars churn, ebb, and flow on songs like "Same" and "Lies," ringing out with reverberating clarity. Though they were often labeled jangle pop, the Neats played a minor-key sort of art rock that had as much to do with punk as it did with 1960s folk-rock. The long instrumental passages, droning minor keys, and decidedly murky production -- by Rick Harte, also the head of the band's label Ace of Hearts -- certainly found kinship with New Zealand pop acts like the Clean and American acts like Dream Syndicate, yet there is a singularly Boston feel to the EP. The sound can be traced via a strain that also extends through Mission of Burma, Moving Targets, and Galaxy 500. Though the EP is inconsistent, with "Red and Grey" far and away the standout song, the Neats had clearly tapped into an original variation on the 1980s college town sound, and the other songs lead the way to the band's more even LP. And The Monkey's Head in the Corner of the Room garnered some critical attention, coming in at number five on ~the Village Voice "Pazz Jop End of Year Critic Lists." - Bill Janovitz, All Music Guide Read more Less