It's About Time

avoiding the sputter of careerist garage rock for a spectacularly bleary haunted house feel, it's about time was a welcome alternative to art-punk, synth pop, and the power hunger of bands like x and the cramps. that's not to say that the pandoras didn't owe themselves to an extinct musical movement, but thanks mostly due to paula pierce, who fronted and wrote virtually everything here, rough charms like "cry on my own," "i live my life," and "hot generation," had a musicality to them that allowed the easybeats-like throb to bob and sway instead of simply blaring out into a din. years later, much of it's about time still shines in its muddily produced, tonally confident swagger, remaining one of 1984's best garage-punk releases.