The Suburbs “In Combo” 1980. Twin/Tone Records. New wave/post punk from Minneapolis. In Combo is The Suburbs debut release (they put out a s/t EP in 1978) and it’s new wave/punk in the way that Devo was categorized as such: it’s quirky and weird, disjointed and experimental. Though they never had broad commercial success – their sound was just a bit too far to the left of pop for regular radio – The Suburbs were Midwest-big in the 80’s and performed with bands like the B-52’s and Iggy Pop; I guess even Bruce Springsteen was a fan. It’s totally possible I saw The Suburbs in concert at some point in the 80’s but I honestly have no idea. In Combo has some great tracks and some hilarious, batshit lyrics. Some of my top picks are “Tiny People” (“Tiny people/Tall buildings/Tiny people/Manhattan…The sun doesn’t come in from the sides, you know/There’s too many fucking buildings), “Goggles On” (especially the shriek “so bright!”), the excellent funky groove of “Drinking” (in the live video linked here they call this track their theme song) and as a good Midwestern girl who grew up on a small sheep farm in dairy country I also like “Cows” (I like cows/They’ve got skinny feet/Unlike their friends, the shaved sheep/They’ve got skinny feet”) – the moo sound of the guitar is quite a nice touch.