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The Cry - Leave Your Bones in the Hall

Cry vs Cry
Leave Your Bones in the Hall was the second album by The Cry. Kimball Fox (Kim Berly of Stampeders fame) and the band were back for another round, although this time drums were provided by Chas Mitchell. This was a truly collaborative effort with most of the songs on the album being attributed to all of the members in the band. I'll admit that when I see that in the credits it makes me happy. One for all, and all for one stuff.

Musically the guys were capturing lightning in a bottle with their brand of harder rocking skinny tie new wave, even getting the flat robotic backing vocals down. Who knows why the band didn't catch on. Then again the debut suffered the same fate, being relegated to obscurity. The band is more or less a footnote, or the answer to a trivia question.

Which is a shame.

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The music was really good, although to be honest, by '81 the new wave propelled by the organ and catchy hooks had already crashed to the shore but the tide hadn't gone out. It's not like it wasn't still popular, but things were changing and boy howdy those transition years between '79 and '81 went by in a hurry. Music, as it does, would evolve and take bits and pieces and incorporate much of the energy and structure into what became the sound of the '80s.

From the opening track "These Are My Times," the band really came out swinging, and they didn't let up. This is the song that should have been a single. It was a great marriage of rock and new wave. The song had teeth. For a bunch of guys who were likely in their early thirties they were still full of piss and vinegar and they weren't about to sit still and let life pass them by without getting in a few good shots. All of the songs are tight little pop gems and it's an enjoyable listen. There aren't any duds, although there really isn't that big "holy crap" moment where time stops, although there are a few songs that really come close. I'm not sure the album suffered for it. A good album is a good album, and this was solid all the way through.

The Cry
The album was on a small imprint, Orient Records, and RCA was the distribution partner. As near as I can tell, it looked like RCA was the driving force in getting this out to the public. Like I said, it was a small label and by all accounts folded after a couple of years. I wonder who had possession of the band's master tapes? In this age of streaming where even the most obscure stuff has managed to find its way into the digital realm, The Cry remains buried.

The Cry would release their final album on RCA a year later in '82, Guilty Fingers. It would suffer the same fate as the band's previous releases and shortly after the band would fold.

Which was a Crying shame, but such is the way of rock and roll.


 

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