Here’s a rather obscure new wave/post-punk tinged single from the West Coast. Los Angeles to be exact. While this is the only known release by Landscape of Sound (released in 1983), the band has direct ties to like-minded post-punk band Drowning Pool, who formed soon after this 7” was released. Before the band would become Drowning Pool (who put out some rather excellent and delightfully easy to find LPs in the mid-80s), this single served as a respectable point of entry for Brett Smith and Adam Elesh. The project evolved from a basic partnership to include other Los Angeles area musicians. According to the Drowning Pool biography, the band came together while hanging out at Pier Records (managed by Chris Maneke of Abecedarians, covered here in the past). Maneke would also produce several Drowning Pool recordings.
The real gem on this 7” is the b-side, a rickety, but excellent post-punk track with jangly chorus-heavy guitar and those synth strings we all know and love. Definitely a winner if I’ve ever heard one… The a-side is a little more new wave, reminiscent of the UK synth scene, but with a more organic touch. There’s still a similar vibe running through it, so it’s not a night and day sort of affair. Either way, it’s an excellent single that deserves a listen or twenty, so without any further ado…
Landscape of Sound- Live Forever 7”
1. Live Forever
2. On the Edge