The Nuns - The Nuns (1980)

The Nuns were a punk rock/new wave and gothic rock band in San Francisco and New York City. Best known as one of the founding acts of the early San Francisco punk scene, the band went through a number of hiatuses and periodic reunions, lineup changes, and changes in style. Overall, The Nuns performed and recorded on and off from the mid-1970s into the 2000s. While the band was centered on Jennifer Miro and Jeff Olener through its various incarnations, Alejandro Escovedo, march to finding his voice as a singer/songwriter and went on to later success as an Americana and alternative country musician, was also a key member during its years of fame in late 1970s San Francisco.

But that's not fair, because the Nuns had no trouble standing out in a scene that produced such a wealth of distinctive bands. No less than three people share the microphone, though Jennifer Miro who sounds uncannily like her Blondie counterpart, Deborah Harry possesses the most appealing voice. Miro's glacial keyboards also carry the main melodic load on tracks like "Suicide Child" which laments a friend's self-destruction and "&Walkin' the Beat," a salute to city night life. Guitarist Pat Ryan is also a distinctive presence, lending the appropriate quota of muscular barre chord parts on "Media Control," "World War III," and "Child Molester" which takes an unlikely look at the issue from the offender's eyes ("Where are they gonna put me?"). Old friends also fall out in "Getting Straight," which gives the punk-versus-mainstream wars yet another airing. But it's Miro's barbed charisma that captivates whether she wants someone to be her "Savage," proud of being "Wild," or simply "Lazy." The latter number is a solo piano ballad on which Miro asserts that falling in love is too bothersome, so she'd rather just watch TV. It's a lovely admission of vulnerability from behind the hardbitten sheen. Where the Nuns could have gone from here is anybody's guess since this is such a schizophrenic album but worth revisiting as a minor classic of the late-'70s punk era.

01.  "Savage"  (Jennifer Miro)  - 2:12 
02.  "Media Control"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener)  - 2:31 
03.  "Wold War III"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener)  - 2:41 
04.  "You Think You're The Best"  (Jennifer Miro)  - 2:05 
05.  "Walkin' The Beat"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener)  - 2:52 
06.  "Wild"  (Jennifer Miro)  - 2:00 
07.  "Getting Straight"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener, Jennifer Miro)  - 2:02 
08.  "Confused"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener)  - 1:15 
09.  "Child Molester"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener)  - 2:03 
10.  "Suicide Child"  (Alejandro Escovedo, Jeff Olener)  - 4:15 
11.  "Lazy"  (Jennifer Miro)  - 2:29

Credits
Vocals - Jeff Olener, Jennifer Miro, Richie Detrick
Drums - Jeff Raphael
Guitar - Pat Ryan
Keyboards - Jennifer Miro
Percussion - Jeff Raphael
Mixed By - David Hines
Engineer - Glenn Feit
Producer - Nuns, The, Robbie Fields

Notes
Recorded May 1980 at Brian Elliot Recording, North Hollywood
Genre:  Punk, Rock
Length:  26:52

© 1980 BOMP!/Posh Boy Records