Playground

Personnel: Mick Lister, Dennis Greaves (vocals, guitar); Chris Skornia (keyboards); Richard John Parfitt (bass guitar); Allan Frieder (drums).
Up from the ashes of Nine Below Zero, a short-lived but well-respected energetic R&B band (who had a minor following in the early '80s due to the punk charge of tunes like "Eleven Plus Eleven"), London-based singer/guitarist Dennis Greaves formed the Truth and inked with I.R.S. Records in 1984. Drawing heavily on Paul Weller's bulging catalog, the quintet's 1985 debut, Playground, is a fine ten-song collection of second-generation mod pop that launches with the Jam-derived fervor of the title track. Driving guitars, crumbling drums, organ fills, and Greaves' inspired vocals result in what could easily be an outtake from The Gift. Meanwhile the cooing, soulful pop of "Spread a Little Sunshine" and the U.S. single "Exception of Love" (which deserved to be a hit) come closer to the Style Council's terrain at the time. "I'm in Tune" falls midway between roaring rock and timeless soul and is arguably the highlight of this mostly great set, which is plagued only by the repetitive, just plain average nature of late-album tracks like "Thursday Club." ~ John D. Luerssen