The Monks - Bad Habits (1979)

Posted by Nostalgiaholic | on May 31, 2008

It wasn’t until just recently that I was finally able to make contact with other Monk aficionados. Re-live their first, and best, Pop-Punk Masterpiece !!!

The Monks- Bad Habits Tracks :

Nice Legs, Shame About Her Face
I Ain’t Gettin Any
Out Of Work Musician
No Shame
Dear Jerry
Love In Stereo
Skylab (Theme From The Monks)
Bad Habits
Inter-City Kitty
Drugs In My Pocket
Johnny B. Rotten
Spotty Face

Release Date : 1979

Label : EMI

Producers and Band : John Ford, Rich Hudson, and Terry Cassidy

For the longest time I was convinced that only I had heard of this particular album. The spoof-punk stylings of The Monks and their earlier folk-rock incarnation The Strawberry Hill Boys seemed all but unknown to my friends, relatives (thank god), and classmates. Even searching for online information on them now is difficult and the BitTorrents seemed strangely Monk-free. Ahhh well, who needs Wikipedia anyway ? Thank God for album linear notes, THE source for all your band-info needs !

Though I listened to the album’s catchy and hilarious track “Nice Legs, Shame about Her Face” in high school, it wasn’t until years later that I worked a stint as a bartender with a guy named Scott that turned me onto the album. I’ve still got HIS copy of Bad Habits on vinyl… I should really get around to returning it someday.

The album was the first of only two discs produced by the band, and features almost all of their best bits. Most tracks focus on simple, three-chord guitar tunes with a stylistic nod to late 70s power-pop-punk bands like The Ramones, Big Star, and the Jam. Of course the minute the vocals kick in, you know these guys aren’t taking any musical legacy seriously… the nasal, way-to-British snarling and childlike lyrics are instantly smile-inducing and totally “take the piss” out of all the aformented bands. These guys didn’t make an album to change the world, they were just having fun, and it completely comes through your headphones.

Drop your stylus like an atom bomb on this record ! “Johnny B. Rotten” is rockabilly/surf craziness meets The Damned, but with an emphasis on FUN FUN FUN !!! This song will carve out a small corner in the back of your skull and wait there until a month later, when crawls out into your mind and you’ll catch yourself humming the tune. Same with the totally infectious next track “Drugs In My Pocket”.

The swinging “Love In Stereo” is just bizarre. The melodies, lyrics and vocals bring such diverse comparisons to mind as Weird Al Yankovitch meets Duran Duran meets the more laid-back songs of The Offspring. Check out “Spotty Face” before you move on to Side B, the rest is mainly just filler.

the Monks Single Flip your record over, and “Nice Legs…” sets the party tone with Dylan-esque mumblings and shout-along choruses. “I Ain’t Gettin Any” keeps the tempo up with a fast, bent rhythm that’s reminiscent of The Clash. Plenty of hand-clapping and “Oi ! Oi ! Oi !” bleed from the end of track 2 into the more melodic barstool-burning “Out Of Work Musician”. Who woulda thought these guys could pull off a buzzsaw guitar solo !!!???

It isn’t all gold though, both “No Shame” and “Dear Jerry” are more filler that strays into the new, exciting and slightly-nausiating world of early-80s synth-pop. “Dear Jerry” actually sounds likes a sped-up version of a Phil Collins song, or maybe the Police’s “Roxanne”.

And Then there’s the weirdness that is “Skylab (Theme From The Monks)”… Wtf ??? I haven’t decided whether this song is the most brilliant piece of Sci-Fi/Western Ambient Cabaret music music ever, or a sick and twisted rip on Queen’s “Flash Gorden” soundtrack. It’s probably both… You should have a listen.

Despite making a great couple albums, the Monks disappeared into obscurity and were never heard from again by anyone other than hard-core fans (most of which hide in caves, protecting their mountains of discarded 8-track tapes). It wasn’t until just recently that I was finally able to make contact with other Monk aficionados. A couple of months ago I had dinner with my friend Jess and his dad, and I happened to mention a line from “Drugs In My Pocket”. Suddenly Jess’ Dad (himself a musician) began to chant the chorus in his gravelly baritone; “Drugs in me pocket, drugs in me pocket.“. Aha! A kindred spirit!

It would seem that the fans of the Monks are of a more cult-ish, underground variety and tend to avoid chat-room fandom in favour of nocturnal beer drinking and goat worship. Do not attempt to approach any of these strange and disheveled individuals without first listening to The Monks “Bad Habits” album at least twice.

Hey I just found a Bad Habits BitTorrent !!!

Much love.

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