Search - Underneath What :: What Is It

80's Alternative Lost Treasure

Sam Quintin | Wasteland, NV USA | 08/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the pleasures of being a rock'n'roll fanatic (as any rock'n'roll fanatic will attest), is in "discovering" that lost treaure..that group, or performer or song that NO ONE ELSE seems to have heard of. The 1980s has the reputation of being a total wasteland in rock'n'roll music, but, once upon a time, so too did the 1970s. I was a college radio personality in the late 1980s when I received a promo copy for the group Under Neath What's version of Chic's "Le Freak" on 12" vinyl. It didn't blow me away, I'll admit, but it certainly caught my attention and on a whim (the sort of whim- osmosis?- that lead me to Jane's Addiction a few months earlier)I bought their debut Warners release, WHAT IS IT (which, by the way did not contain "Le Freak")on casette. I loved it, and put it into immediate rotation ("Bad Karma Chameleon," "Bad Star," "Eggs, Bacon, Suicide"). And never heard of or from Under Neath What again. For years it was a lost treasure to me, a private joy, a fever that I alone seemed privy to...and then the obvious occured, why not see if it's available on cd through Amazon? And there it was, from a seller, for next to nothing considering its worth to me! (Plus shipping, of course.) Brand new, its packaging, from 1989, having never been opened. Um, I was prepared to spend quite a lot more...seeing that say, Elvis Hitler's Disgraceland (a contemporary release) had an asking price of more than I could swing.... What I'm saying, or trying to convey to you is: Under Neath What was (is?) fantastic. It's trippy, it rocks, and has melodies that linger... you may be able to even dance to it. It's of a space and time in the murk between Jane's and subsequent Nirvana. It's Radio Friendly. An Alternative Treasure To Behold. A Foretelling Of Things To Come. It's Rock'n'Roll. And they're EVEN English (for you Anglophiles out there). "Le Freak" isn't on the cd either, but you'll land "2000 Light Years From Home" instead. The 1980s has undiscovered treasures, Under Neath What is certainly one of them. Now if only Belfgore would turn up!"