Every band, no matter how much they accomplish during their existence, has to start somewhere. For the English/Canadian garage band the Barracudas, Drop Out... was where they began. This reissue has the original 1981 release, the associated b-sides from the singles, and seven tracks that were released later on, well after they had left EMI.
The original release is neatly divided into two halves, reflecting the two genres they initially focused on. Tracks 1-7 (side one of the LP) showcase chiming, at times doomy sounding folk rock numbers; these get extra heft thanks to a deep reverberating production akin to what Dave Edmunds applied to some of the Flamin' Groovies late 70's releases. Highlights here are the originals "I Can't Pretend", "We're Living In Violent Times", "Somewhere Outside" and the cover of "Codeine". Here the Barracudas show a feeling of tenseness and paranoia about the rapidly changing political climate, as well as a growing sense that their updating of mid-60's rock was making them out of place in fashion-conscious Britain (this proved to be true; they had more success in continental Europe, especially France, than in Britain after this album). By contrast, tracks 8-14 (side two) is fun, often satirical, surf rock given a garage slant. The emphasis on these tracks is fun; even in the tragic story of "His Last Summer" (a surfer who perishes taking one last ride), the Barracudas sing with their tongues firmly in their cheeks, acknowledging this is not to be taken as a serious, cautionary tale. The side, and the album, ends with their early statement of purpose, the anthemic "(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again", complete with a roll call of all the bands and trends of that year they loved. The extra tracks follow in the vein of the main album, with the highlight, for me anyway, being the originally unissued "Grammar Of Misery", a folk rock piece that also showed some of the toughness the band would develop on their later releases (see their Mean Time album).
The Barracudas may have felt, as one of the songs on here proclaims, that "This Ain't My Time", but that proved to be premature, as they would persist through the 80s and 90s, with more lineups and more recordings, in the process becoming one of the leading lights of the 1980's garage/pop/psych movement. So, if you weren't around back then but have an interest in the 80s era garage bands, and want a place to start, Drop Out... is a fine introduction. And, for $5 through the Amazon Marketplace, at a cheap price as well.