ALBUMS: Credit in Heaven (1982); Love is the Law (1983); self-entitled (1986)
MVC Rating: Credit 4.0/$$$$$; Love is the Law 4.0/$$$$; self entitled 3.5/$$$$.
Some of my favorite artists are from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in cold-as-heck Minnesota: Prince, the Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum and Peter Himmelman to name a few.
I used to live there as well from Grades 1 to 3 in the mid-1960s. We lived in Married Student Housing as my father was pursuing a degree at the University of Minnesota. I watched him trudge to school every morning on a well-worn path through the snow. Then I’d trudge to the bus stop to school.
It was so cold the fire department came every year in the winter and hosed down the field out back. The water would freeze , which turned into ice and voila, instant ice rink. I learned to play hockey, sort of.
Our housing complex was right next to the Minnesota state fairgrounds. I and several buddies would sneak into the fair without paying by crawling through the woods and under a chain link fence.
Bad boys, what you going to do.
My three best friends were from other countries: a Pakistani, an Australian and a mischievous Turk.
The hippie family two doors down disappeared in the middle of the night after he was drafted for service in the Vietnam war. We heard they relocated in Canada.
I tell you all this because it doesn’t surprise me that a varied and interesting amount of talent comes out of the Twin CIties in Minnesota.
The Suburbs was one of those, and, for a time in the 1980s, they appeared close to breaking out . They were headlining major venues in the Twin Cities, putting out an alternative vibe that combined funk, electronic, and jazzy rock and roll. They were a little like the Talking Heads with a nod toward the silly like the B-52s
But, alas, there would be no suburban flight.
After four studio albums , they called it quits in around 1988. They re-formed in the 90s and have been putting out some music and playing local venues.
Their albums all have some great music. I think if I had to reccomend one, it would be the Twin Tones double album ‘Credit in Heaven.’
Love is the Law’ was their first major label, (Mercury), and it is quite good, as well.