power pop criminals

ROBERT DERBY - I'M NORMAL (1980)

This early one-man album demonstrates what could be done in the pre-tech days by a crafty auteur with two tape decks, a basement and a lot of patience. Far worse-sounding albums have been recorded by rooms full of session pros in 32-track studios. If you dig LMNOP's catchy pop, then you'll enjoy Derby's light rock-pop which benefits from skillful arrangements and his multi instrumental prowess; underdeveloped material and a samey blandness are the record's shortcomings. (Cachalot later repackaged I'm Normal with the similarly solitary Ian North album My Girlfriend's Dead, overstating their achievements by titling the pair Modern Renaissance Men, but while Ian North's was reissued on CD, Robert Derby has never been reissued.) (Trouser Press)

Songs
Do Do It / You're A Loser / Take A Pill / Wendy / Chicken Love / I'm Normal / Dancin' / Out Of Mind / Media USA / Tiger Beat / Don't Bee / Barbie / Big Bad Bear / Youth In Asia