Import re-issue of Nick Cave's pre-Birthday Party garage punk band. Features 10 tracks including, 'Nightwatchman', 'Friends Of My World', 'Voice', 'Roman Roman', 'Somebody's Watching', 'After A Fashion', 'Dive Position', '... more »I Mistake Myself' and 'Shivers'. Originally released in 1979. Mute. 2009.« less
Import re-issue of Nick Cave's pre-Birthday Party garage punk band. Features 10 tracks including, 'Nightwatchman', 'Friends Of My World', 'Voice', 'Roman Roman', 'Somebody's Watching', 'After A Fashion', 'Dive Position', 'I Mistake Myself' and 'Shivers'. Originally released in 1979. Mute. 2009.
"Ah like this album very, very much, because the voices and guitars of The Boys Next Door are great. The songs are all in the category 'Rock' never in 'Punk' or something like that. The Boys Next Door, Nick Cave's first band, a kinda schoolband I knew from an interview, are not comparable with the later bands of Nick, like The Birthday Party or The Bad Seeds, just different. Nearly all of the 10 tracks are full of action and guitars, for example 'The Nightwatchman', 'Brave Exhibitions', 'Friends Of My World', 'The Voice', ... Well, 'Door, Door' is no album for people who like it slowly and romantically. Ha, for me as a fan a nice CD, with Nick as the young leader, which is always a pleasure. Yep."
A Must-Own for Nick Cave fans
sfslp | San Francisco, CA USA | 09/05/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the beginning. Pre-Birthday Party and Bad Seeds, I believe they were even teenagers still. Not as polished, of course. But Shivers, the song made famous in the movie Dogs in Space, continues to be the perfect adult angst song to this day. Other Bday Party talents show up on Nightwatchman and Friends of My World. Upon listening to this now, I actually hear more Bday Party than ever before.
If you're to compare this work to that that comes after, of course it's not as good. But if you're to listen to it for its own merit and consider its place in history, then it's quite stellar--esp for post-punk Australia. That's why I give it 5 stars."
Not a bad start!
Michael D'orazio | Philadelphia | 09/29/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"You have to listen to this album at least a few times. There are a few really good tracks. The first half of the album was
produced by Les Karskey, so it's not as interesting as the last
half. I guess they got fed up, so they did the rest by themselves. I really liked "I mistake myself", for the guitar
work. It get's close to what they we're doing when they got to
Hee Haw. "The Voice", has a lot of energy, and insight. "Shivers", well, everyone likes that song. This album is a good start. I still think it's better than some of
the indie music out today. And if you are a Birthday Party fan,
it is a must to have. Get it cheap, though.
"
A perfect pop album?
Andreas Faust | Tasmanian Autonomous Zone | 04/04/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm not a huge admirer of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, finding many of their songs overblown and affected (despite a few gems like 'Straight to You'). But Nick Cave's 1979 debut with his band The Boys Next Door is completely free of these faults, unaffected to the point of innocence, and also devoid of the angsty persona they would adopt for their next album 'Prayers on Fire' (after changing their name to The Birthday Party).
On 'Door, Door' very simple chord progressions act as scaffolding for melodies so catchy they will stay in your head for days, if not weeks. The album is a veritable template for anyone wishing to use music as a weapon (i.e. using it to get inside people's heads). Melody is far more important than instrumentation, but for the record the latter mainly consists of distorted guitar with cleanly muffled bass and amateurish drumming, plus the odd horn section or piano riff.
No idea what the lyrics are about, and it's not important, either. Good music trumps good lyrics any day. While the latter are a nice bonus, they're not nearly so important as the music itself. From a musical point of view, 'Door, Door' is a virtually perfect pop album..."