Sniff n' the Tears - The Game's Up

Sniff n' the Tears is generally regarded as a one hit wonder. That may well be the case, as dagnabbit and boy howdy their one hit "Driver's Seat" was an amazing song that cut through the heavy fog disco covered the musical landscape with back in the late 70s. As much as I like shitting on disco, the late 70s was also an incubator for great rock to come. Besides, by 1979 disco was in it's death throws so as we approached the 80s things were looking up - if only I'd been aware that disco's re-branding sneak attack would come in the form of dance music and ten minute extended club mixes. 

I did get a Sniff n' the Tears best of CD years and years ago, and to be honest I didn't spend a lot of time with it. I wanted to have "Driver's Seat" and essentially ignored the rest of the album. I did that a lot, so much stuff, so little time.

I'm bin diving the other day and there's The Game's Up, and the jacket was pristine, no liner, and the vinyl other than a divot on one track seemed like it would clean up. The divot makes a nice pop or two on "Nightlife" which sucked, but could have been worse.

I've played it through a couple of times now, and Sniff n' the Tears sounds amazing today. Honestly, that's one of the great things about spending time with music and intentionally listening to an album all the way through - you allow time to appreciate things, and generally I'm finding my self surprised more often than not. I was hoping to hear something equal to "Driver's Seat" (I don't think I was alone in this hope) and while there are a couple of tracks that really popped for me nothing really rose to that level. Having said that, the album was cohesive and really enjoyable all the through - and there are some stellar tracks the best for me is "Nightlife" clicks and pops and all. This song features absolutely killer guitar work. KILLER I tell ya.

If I'm going to touch on the musicianship, and I may as well - this album is full of great performances. I'm not sure what aligned for Dire Straits to rock and rise above (yeah yeah yeah Mark was brilliant, make no mistake, but he was not without peer) and a band like Sniff n' the Tears who also had an unconventional lead singer who told stories as much as sang, who was also backed by a virtuoso guitar player. Now, this is where I'm sort of stuck. I mentioned the lack of liner notes, and while there are five pictures on the back cover, there are no accompanying credits.

Near as I can tell going left to right the guys are: Loz Netto - guitar; Nick South - bass, Paul Roberts - vocals, acoustic guitar, Mike Taylor - keyboards, Mick Dyche - guitar. 

It's not clear who played the lead work on the album but the work on the title track and "Nightlife" in particular evokes a very strong Dire Straits vibe, but not from 1980 - more like Brothers in Arms era but more mid tempo - considering the year this was released that's a misaligned comparison. Having said that, this doesn't sound like Dire Straits. There is a lot of great fretwork on the album but it's not in your face, nor does every track have a solo, the guitar serviced the song.

This was a great find, and I'll be honest I'm not sure this would have pinged my radar back in 1980, and even their own website hints at the reaction this album would have with the public, particularly in North America where nothing less than "Driver's Sear II" would suffice. 

As I sit hear listening now, I'm pretty happy to have found this and it's a really solid album. As for "Nightlife" I have my CD and that song is going on a playlist

After this album both Loz Netto and Mick Dyche would leave the band, leaving singer-songwriter Paul Roberts in (I apologize for this, but it's there and I can't help myself, you probably see it coming too, but you'll keep reading anyway) the driver's seat.