The Shirts - The Shirts (1978)

The Shirts are a New York-based American Punk Band, which was formed in 1975. The band’s early existence (1975 to 1981) was closely linked with CBGB, a music club in the Bowery, but it reformed with many of the early members in 2003 and is currently active.
When most people recall the dawning days of New York punk and the early CBGB scene, they think in terms of bands like the Ramones, Blondie, and the Dead Boys, but the sound of what Hilly Kristal first called "street rock" was significantly more eclectic than that, and the arty pop of the Shirts was as much a part of the scene as the more aggressive stuff that would in time become punk's hallmark. the Shirts were certainly capable of doing the fast-and-loud thing on tunes like "Lonely Android," "Poe," and "Teenage Crutch," but the tricky chord changes and melodic shifts that pop up in these songs (and the moody keyboards and massed vocals of "Android"'s coda) set them apart from the three-chord thrash that was all the rage on the Bowery, and the smart, angular push and pull of "Reduced to a Whisper" and "Empty Ever After" isn't especially far removed from what their pals the Talking Heads did on their first album, with the artier stuff aided considerably by Mike Thorne's crisp but unobtrusive production. There's a confident professionalism to the Shirts' debut that few CBGB bands managed on their first visit to the studio; Annie Golden's vocals were more Mary Weiss or Ronnie Spector than Patti Smith, while "Tell Me Your Plans," "10th Floor Clown," and "The Story Goes" play more like mainstream pop with the slightest dollop of progressive rock around the edges than anything most folks would consider new wave.
The Shirts is an album that rests somewhere between the old and new waves of the year it was recorded (1978), but the band's intelligence and skill invariably shine through and it deserves its place in the pantheon of notable albums of the first new wave.

Track listing

01. "Reduced To A Whisper" - 3:28
        Written-By – The Shirts 
02. "Tell Me Your Plans" - 3:10
        Written-By – Artie La Monica 
03. "Empty Ever After" - 3:52
        Written-By – Robert Racioppo
04. "Teenage Crutch" - 3:00
        Written-By – Robert Racioppo, Ronald Ardito 
05. "10th Floor Clown" - 4:24
        Written-By – Artie La Monica, Robert Racioppo, Ronald Ardito
06. "The Story Goes" - 4:00
        Written-By – Artie La Monica, John Piccolo
07. "Lonely Android" - 3:55
        Written-By – Artie La Monica, Robert Racioppo
08. "Running Through The Night" - 3:46
        Written-By – Ronald Ardito
09. "They Say The Sun Shines" - 3:29
        Written-By – Robert Racioppo 
10. "Poe" - 3:47
        Written-By – Robert Racioppo, Ronald Ardito

Credits
Vocals – Annie Golden
Bass, Guitar, Vocals – Robert Racioppo
Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards – Arthur La Monica, Ronald Ardito
Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals – John Piccolo
Drums, Vocals, Percussion – John (Zeeek) Criscione
Art Direction – Brian Palmer 
Artwork By [Illustrations] – Conny Jude
Design [Shirts Logo] – Larry Racioppo
Engineer [Additional Overdubs] – Pat Stapley
Engineer [Backing Tracks, Lead Vocals] – Gary Edwards
Engineer [Backing Vocals, Instrumental Overdubs] – Roger Bechirian
Mastered By [Cutting] – Ken Perry
Mixed By – Paul Hardiman
Photography – Peter Vernon
Producer – Mike Thorne

Notes
Backing tracks and lead vocals recorded at Wessex.
Backing vocals and instrumental overdubs recorded at Eden.
Recorded At – Wessex Sound Studios
Overdubbed At – Eden Studios
Additional overdubs recorded at Abbey Rd. Studio 1.
Mixed At – Advision Studios
Lacquer Cut At – Capitol Mastering
Genre: New Wave, Pop
Length:  36:52
© 1982

Label - Harvest Records               

The Shirts - Inner Sleeve (1980)

The Shirts are a New York-based American power pop band, which was formed in 1975. Formed: 1971 in New York, NY, United States.
For the third album, Capitol Records made a deal with EMI in which the band would be signed solely to Capitol. Now under Capitol’s management rather than Thorne’s, recording went poorly and the resulting album, “Inner Sleeve” (1980), was not properly supported by the label, only 10,000 copies being pressed. It was a signal failure for the band, and although they continued playing for another two years, the large band (nine members at its height) had been reduced to four players, and essentially broke up in 1981.
History remembers the Shirts, perhaps unfairly, as one of the second-string bands on the CBGB/Max's Kansas City axis in the late 1970s, but unlike Tuff Darts, the Miamis, or the Laughing Dogs, the Shirts lasted long enough to cut three albums during their heyday, and though 1980s “Inner Sleeve” was a very different kettle of fish than their first two efforts, it was certainly an improvement over the eclectic but meandering Street Light Shine.
Mike Thorne, who had produced the Shirts' first two alums, was out of the picture, and while John Palladino and George Wadenius didn't bring much personality to these sessions, this is the most straightforward album the Shirts ever made, bringing the band's pop songcraft into tight focus and clearing away the pseudo-prog gingerbread that had cluttered the landscape of "Street Light Shine". the Shirts had been stripped down to a quintet by the time they went into the studio for "Inner Sleeve" (at one time there were nine musicians in the group) and the sessions sound like a band playing live with minimal fuss, though Annie Golden's lead vocals display a lot more gloss than before, as if someone on the project thought she had the potential to be the next Pat Benatar (thankfully, the Ronnie Spector influences of her best music still dominate).
And the pop side of the Shirts carries the day on Inner Sleeve, with "Time (Has Seen Me Lonely)," "Too Much Trouble," and "I Don't Wanna Know" ranking with their best would-be singles (and if "Pleasure Is the Pain" sounds a bit cheesy, it also sounds like the radio hit this band could have had if their label hadn't dropped the ball).
The Shirts lost their record deal and broke up within a year of “Inner Sleeve” arriving in stores, but though it represents a somewhat compromised vision of the band, with their artier gestures left behind, it also sounds sharp and compelling, proving this band had something to say right up to the end.

Track listing

01.  I'm Not One of Those  - 3:20
02.  One Last Chance  - 3:04
03.  Can't Get it Through My Head  - 3:54
04.  I've Had It  - 3:19
05.  I Don't Wanna Know  - 4:30
06.  Pleasure is the Pain  - 3:30
07.  As Long as the Laughter Lasts  - 3:24
08.  Too Much Trouble  - 3:02
09.  Hanging Around  - 3:41
10.  Small Talk  - 2:35
11.  Time (Has Seen Me Lonely)  - 2:48

Credits
Annie Golden - vocals
Ronald Ardito - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Arthur La Monica - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Producer – Georg Wadenius, John Palladino

Notes
Genre:  Pop, Rock
Playtime: 37:08
Label:  Capitol Records

© 1980