1. Suburbs / Suburbs (A&M 1986)
From the moment I began reading about the band in the pages of Trouser Press all those years ago, it took until this album in 1986 for the band to reach full fruition and begin making the sort of music that I had expected to hear when I bought my first 'Burbs record.
Sure, we loved the jittery faux-punk with vague ska and disco overtones of the early years, but what we really wanted to hear was the band embrace both R&B/funk and post-punk in a way that kept the sophistication, the nuance, and the energy, but dispensed with the cheesy programmed synths and drum machines.
After all, the Suburbs were (are), most of all, a live band capable of both punk and funk. With a line-up as fierce as theirs, why would you even entertain the idea of replacing drummer Hugo Klaers with something named Linn or Roland?
Being that this album was released in 1986, the band surrenders to the pressures of the time and incorporates drum machines into many of the songs on this album and, yet, it works.
Don't ask me how because equally talented artists like Matthew Sweet and others were trying to walk that tightrope and they weren't doing so nearly as well. Props to producer (and Prince/The Revolution drummer) Bobby Z.
Despite a tight batch of songs that hone the Suburbs aesthetic to perfection, this album received absolutely no promotion whatsoever.
Also, with Trouser Press two years gone by the time it was released, if not for the fine folks at Tracks Records placing the album on their New Releases end cap, I might have never known it was ever released because it wasn't long before this title disappeared off the face of the earth.
Best tunes: Life Is Like, Every Night's A Friday Night, #9
2. Credit In Heaven (Twin/Tone 1981)
If ever there was an album that proved what could be done at the indie level, without any interference from those pesky major label fat cats and their "ideas", it was Credit In Heaven.
Everything about this album, from the cover art to the gatefold sleeve to the included poster to the, you know, TWO VINYL RECORDS LOADED WITH MUSIC, was deluxe.
Also, song for song, this is the band's best Twin/Tone album, by far.
Best tunes: Tape Your Wife To The Ceiling, Tired of My Plans, Music For Boys
3. Love Is The Law (Mercury 1984)
For many fans of the band, this was their introduction simply because Mercury Records could get copies of their album into hardware stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania and Twin/Tone could not.
Other than shooting one video for the title cut, this fan failed to see any other advantage for the band to have signed to a major label.
Admittedly, coming off of the deluxe packaging and content experience that was Credit In Heaven, seeing your fave band finally get signed to a major label felt like a definite step down due to the album's economical packaging (no fancy inner sleeve, no poster?!) and ONLY NINE SONGS?!
Sadly, of tjose nine tracks, only five rose to the heights that we had come to expect as Suburbs fans.
Best tunes: Rainy Day, Perfect Communist, Love Is The Law
4. In Combo (Twin/Tone 1980)
Some bands take a few albums to develop. Some arrive fully formed. Suburbs arrived in smoking jackets. Sure, the recording lacks a little "fidelity" by today's standards, but the urgency is there and, with songs like "Hobnobbin With The Executives" and "Cows", their tongue is already planted firmly in cheek.
Like their label-mates The Replacements' debut record, the Burbs' first album wasn't so much conceptualized as captured in a burst of manic inspiration. All that was left to do after experiencing this first taste was wait for the smoke to clear.
Best tunes: Eyesight, Cows, Baby Heartbeat
5. Hey Muse! (2017)
In the four years between albums, the Burbs have tapped into the nostalgia market and increased their live gigging. As a result, this new platter feels more like an actual band record. Sadly, Beej Chaney is nowhere to be seen or heard and he is missed.
Does it sound like a Suburbs record, though?
While the answer is a decided "NO", one gets the feeling that head Suburb Chan Poling is no longer interested in trying to recapture past glory. It seems to be very much about present and future glories and this Suburbs fan is just fine with that.
Best tunes: When We Were Young, Can't Take You Back, Unified Force
6. Si Sauvage (2013)
While fans were no doubt delighted to have their favorite band back among the living and recording again, the line-up saw longtime guitarist Beej Chaney reduced to vocals, though he did co-write the album with Chan Poling.
The band's sound has changed over the course of 27 years between studio albums and, as guys in their fifties, the aggressive frivolity has been tamed to some extent by unavoidable maturity brought on by, well, LIFE.
While those who find themselves incapable of getting past the band's current sound, which suffers from the same overly-processed Pro Tools production that mars many potentially great comeback albums by '80s stalwarts.
What makes this album essential as a fan, though, is its survival mentality, for lack of a better word, and the fact that, against all odds, a beloved band has returned more intact than not.
Best tunes: Dumb Ass Kids, Reset The Party, Si Sauvage