Album Reviews

There are probably many behind-the-scenes reasons why indie-rock/power-pop legends The dB’s just could not get their first two albums released by an American record company back in the early 1980s. Whatever the cause or the case, that outright crime for fans of all things jangly power pop and indie rock has long been overdue for amending. Thankfully, a new reissue series by independent record label Propeller Sound Recordings has gone a long way to make up for that unfortunate ’80s misstep.

As some of you may recall, I recently reviewed Propeller’s reissue of The dB’s January 1981 debut LP, Stands for deciBels, right here on AP just a few months back on June 7, 2024 — and I was quite pleased with the result, especially given the challenging circumstances facing the creation of a quality vinyl reissue such as that one. If you haven’t yet read that review, you can go here to catch up.

I am thus more than thrilled to review the new reissue of Repercussion, The dB’s second LP that was initially issued a bit later in 1981 (and then rebooted in 1982), as it was just released by Propeller on October 18, 2024, thus officially making it available domestically for the very first time on vinyl here in America.

Here are the vital stats. As we learned in my Stands for deciBels review, Propeller co-founder and general manager Jay Coyle confirmed with us that digital files from the 1989 I.R.S. Records dB’s CD reissues were used to make these new LP editions, as the original analog tapes are (sadly) missing. Remastering was again led “with very clear and careful direction” — and approval! — from the band and done by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Services, who also cut the lacquers used for vinyl disc manufacturing/pressing. Stampers created from Weston’s lacquers at Gotta Groove in Ohio were then sent to Third Man Pressing in Detroit, where the vinyl discs were physically manufactured.

The SRP for Propeller’s new Repercussion reissue LP is a quite reasonable $25.99, and it is available at independent music stores and other online sources on coke bottle clear vinyl. That said, an even more limited edition “blue with yellow & green sunrise” (their words), tie-dye-like splatter color vinyl version is also available on The dB’s site for $25. Their site link actually sends you directly to the official catalog store on Propeller’s site, which you can more easily access here to order your own copy, if you so choose (and you can see what it looks like, below).

Back to the music, and the band at hand. Seriously, folks — without a time machine, I honestly can’t understand what the deal was with the American music industry of the early ’80s in not getting behind The dB’s back in the day! This group’s music sits squarely in the heart of the indie-rock revolution that was then emerging out of the punk-inspired new-wave movement of the late ’70s. At the time, there were plenty of releases coming out by fresh young groups such as The Bongos from Hoboken, New Jersey — not to mention a little group from Athens, Georgia, by the name of R.E.M. The dB’s Repercussion sits comfortably, neatly, and perfectly alongside late ’70s and early ’80s releases by the likes of Squeeze, Dave Edmunds, Rockpile, Nick Lowe, The Feelies, Graham Parker & The Rumour, and many of-era others.

Add to this pedigree the additional amazing street cred gained in 1977, when future dB’s co-founder Chris Stamey released a single (“The Summer Sun,” on Ork Records) produced by none other than Alex Chilton of Big Star and 1960s hitmakers The Box Tops fame. In 20/20 hindsight, it sure seems that The dB’s would have been a choice opportunity for an American label to snap up. That wasn’t the case, alas. (Go figure.)

Instead, The dB’s gained support from a UK-based label called Albion Records, relegating the band’s intrepid releases to be brought back into the U.S. as an often-pricier import LP. At the time, if you frequented the right indie record stores who carried these much-sought-after imports from England — something I did near religiously back in the day (as did AP editor Mike Mettler!) — you could find those initial dB’s LPs — if you looked hard enough, that is. I don’t remember ever seeing their albums in the more mainstream shops in the New York area where I grew up at the time until a few years later, when they were on a larger indie label — particularly 1987’s Sound of Music, as issued on I.R.S., which was then being distributed by MCA.

But that’s all past history, so now we can instead revel in the overall essence of a fine reissue of Repercussion here in America, and explore just how good it sounds, all things considered. Unlike with my review of Sounds Like deciBels — which I had only owned previously on CD — I did recently have the good fortune to discover a Mint condition original vinyl copy of Repercussion just last year at a thrift shop for only $5 (seriously!). Honestly, you rarely see this album showing up even in larger shops like Amoeba, so this find was a bit jaw-dropping, especially when it was sitting next to crusty Mitch Miller and Andy Williams albums one commonly finds at thrifts. (Of course, this is the magic of cratedigging, as you never know what you may find!)

Well, I’m happy to report that the new Propeller edition of Repercussion sounds very much in keeping with the flavor of how this album should sound. The music appears a good bit brighter than my Albion edition does overall — but that is not entirely surprising, given it was made from an early digital source. What is more impressive is the new mastering, which — once you get used to the feel and flavor of how the new LP sounds — delivers a perfectly enjoyable listening experience. I have not heard any of the telltale artifacts of poor digital mastering (like those sometimes painful, crunchy, harsh sonic edges) going on here at all.

My vinyl pressing of the new Repercussion reissue was a-ok, and surprisingly quiet for a color variant. My coke bottle clear copy is well-centered, and I have not had any problems with distortion or any of those kinds of pressing issues that we always look out for here at AP. Relative to that, AP editor Mettler tells me his own copy of the coke bottle clear LP also experienced no playback issues whatsoever. Happily, all those important checklist items line up as aces!

Curiously, the tracklisting on this reissue is in a different order than that of my 1982 Albion pressing. It seems the producers (and the band) decided to restore the original sequence as it appeared on the earliest pressings of Repercussion (the cover of which you can see below). At this point, I’m undecided as to whether I prefer one version of the running order over the other, but they are indeed distinct listening experiences. For example, on the new reissue, the moody, acoustic-leaning final track on my Albion pressing — “I Feel Good (Today)” — is actually the opening track to the reissue’s second side. This creates a very different vibe, sequencing-wise. For another example, on the new reissue, the album ends with the rousing “Neverland,” but that song actually opens up Side 2 on my Albion release (the back cover of which is shown below). So, as I said, each version is a unique listening experience in its own respective way.

Adding a bit to the confusion, the album design here — representative of the most widely distributed version of Repercussion, and probably the one with which people are most familiar — was not “the original original,” apparently. A different sleeve design was used for that earlier-tracklisting LP issued in 1981, which had been created by dB’s co-founder Peter Holsapple. This explains the following unusual credit on my Albion release: “Art Redirection: Malcolm Garrett at Assorted iMaGes (after Roy Lichtenstein).” That earlier album cover design has instead been repurposed for the inner sleeve of this new reissue. I suspect this may also help explain the 1982 copyright date on the cover of my Albion version in order to account for the updates — and also likely to present the music as being brand new for that year, which was an important factor in music-reviewing circles back then. If it had said 1981 on the back cover, some reviewers might have then considered it to be an “older” release, and passed over it.

At any rate, some of my favorite tracks on Repercussion include the tragic-comic “Amplifier” (Side 1, Track 5) and the ear-wormy “Happenstance” (Side 1, Track 3), both of which may well have you pogo-dancing and jumping around your living room, and/or wherever your listen to your vinyl these days! The aforementioned, repositioned “Neverland” (Side 2, Track 6) is a fun tune that would make a great segue into R.E.M.’s own very first single in 1981, “Radio Free Europe” (to give you some idea of the feel of that dB’s song). “Storm Warning” (Side 2, Track 2) is a cool twist of feel for this album, featuring a sort of Latin-flavored rhythmic lilt and chord sequences that remind me of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise” (LP1, Side 2, Track 3) from his mega-hit September 1976 2LP set on Tamla, Songs in the Key of Life.

Overall, I am very happy with the Propeller reissue of Repercussion. The music is excellent, and the LP sounds crisp and clean. There is no reason for you not to get it unless you are a die-hard analog purist and are willing to track down an old import. Will I be getting rid of my original pressing? No way! They are still hard to come by, and given its different tracklisting — and its very special “Porky Prime” disc mastering by George Peckham, who had worked on releases by everyone from The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Genesis to Elvis Costello, Yes, Stereolab, and Joy Division — I am holding onto my O.G. copy in addition to keeping the new LP. (Such is the life of the completist collector!)

As to our ratings, I have no problem giving The dB’s Repercussion reissue on Propeller a 10 for the Music, while the Sound merits a solid 8. Should you get one sooner than later? Absolutely sooner, we say, especially if you want one of the 300 copies of the blue/green “sunrise” vinyl edition — though you can, of course, still get your hands on the coke bottle clear edition by going the indie store/online retailer route. Regardless, missing out on either LP version of this stellar early 1980s jangle-pop album just might result in many unnecessary repercussions.

Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for AudiophileReview.com, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.

THE dB’s
REPERCUSSION
1LP (Propeller Sound Recordings)

Side 1
1. Living A Lie
2. We Were Happy There
3. Happenstance
4. From A Window To A Screen
5. Amplifier
6. Ask For Jill

Side 2
1. I Feel Good (Today)
2. Storm Warning
3. Ups And Downs
4. In Spain
5. Nothing Is Wrong
6. Neverland