This album came recommended to by virtue of it's hefty jangle presence. True, New York's
Alter Boys baked plenty of ringing chords into the cake they dubbed
Soul Desire, but that's that facet doesn't purvey itself as their dominant feature. In fact, I'm not sure if there is a "predominant feature," so to speak, occupying these ten grooves. The image of the scruffy, young nerf herders adorning the album sleeve belie a band that's (at least a little) wise beyond their years, pumping out taught, left-of-the-dial pop-rockers. I'm not sure if the clean, airtight production job (courtesy of Dictators alum Andy Shernoff) does the Alter Boys justice. In fact, I had a perfectly valid reason to be suspect upon later hearing a pre-
Soul Desire a-side, "Piles" which I'm including as a bonus. That 1986 track, which plays like early U2 by way of Minneapolis, is fantastically raw, stirring and altogether endearing, whereas
...Desire requires a little more patience. Download, unzip, listen, and you'll see precisely what I mean.
01. One Step Ahead of the Rain
02. One Eye Only
03. Sweet Blossom Mary
04. Staring at the Walls
05. Beautiful World
06. Daily Word
07. Put Me In Another Head
08. Mid-Winter Deathtrip
09. Dry-out Center
10. All I Remember
bonus: Piles
https://rapidshare.com/files/3536646048/alterboys.rar
