Possibly the most hyped Brit band since Oasis, Gay Dad is the brainchild of former Brit rock writer Cliff Jones (The Face, Mojo). Jones set out to commandeer a pop outfit that would outdazzle all the “charisma vacuums” he’d been interviewing.
Realizing that style and hype are everything, he started bandying around the idea of a transcendent, splendidly extreme pop group years before he and his band mates bothered to write songs or work out a sound. Finally concluding, perhaps, that he’d better make good, Jones and four other slumming-it university pals hit the practice space and emerged with a very derivative, very slick, yet somehow very exciting record.
The band’s breakthrough U.K. single, “To Earth With Love,” is a brash glam-anthem produced by Tony Visconti himself (Bowie, T. Rex). Former Adam and the Ants drummer-producer Chris Hughes recorded the rest of the album. Songs like “Dimstar” and “Oh Jim” have impressively catchy choruses, and Jones’ slick, slightly fey vocals do get under your skin. Claiming lineage from Kraut rock, but more the bastard child of glam, Gay Dad incorporates enough catchy choruses, club beats, trendy lyrical references and balls-out bravado to cement a place in rock history. At least for this month.
