The Elementals with Captain Ricky Pluto – Living Stones


This private press gem originated in Michigan in 1984. Unfortunately the cover is the best part of the package. The music is really really bad 1980s synth pop/new wave stuff, with lyrics that seem to be deep but don’t actually say anything. If you’ve ever seen the British TV show The Office, the “Free Love Freeway” song that David Brent sings reminds me of a lot of the lyrics on this album (and the song “John” about John Lennon reminds me of David Brent’s song about Princess Di too!). There are a few high points that could PERHAPS be passed off as The Cars or Talking Heads at their absolute worst, but those moments are few and far between. Check below for a couple sips of juice.

Listen: “John”, “Little Angel”

10 Comments

  • canonical says:

    Being a fan of shitty synth pop / new wave stuff I want sound clips and I want them now.

    :D

    – Aaron Levin

  • hammertime says:

    give me a few minutes!

  • nzshadow says:

    thank you for referencing Free Love Freeway in your review, Davis brent is a genius and The Elementals now holds a special place on my want list.

  • hammertime says:

    i sent a couple mp3s to crink, so hopefully they’ll be up soon.

  • nzshadow says:

    and David brent is agenius too… (whoops)

  • gambit says:

    post a dope common record to trade and you can have my copy that I copped sealed. I made the mistake and listened to it. hammertime is right; the cover is the only dope thing about the record.

  • canonical says:

    I didn’t mind it that much :(

    OK, it’s pretty awful.

  • microsynthesizer says:

    This is freakin’ awesome!!! I love that Wobbly sound on one of the synths (is it out of tune or just old and worn recording?). Sounds like it came from a really worn cassette tape.

  • I know Robert Thibodeau pretty good. He owns and operates a Metaphysical book store. I agree this record is pretty lame although it has some moments…well, OK, maybe just one. He has a number of CDs out and some are pretty tripped out.

  • Hondo Lama says:

    I loved this album and had it on cassette, I believe, and played the crap out of it.
    I used to go to Captain Ricky Pluto’s (Robert T) bookstore and that’s where I drank
    the kool-aid. Where can we get the whole album?

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