Men Without Hats – Record-facts…

by Record Facts

Men Without Hats are a Canadian new wave/synthpop group, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the distinctive baritone voice of their American-born Canadian lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing. They achieved their greatest popularity in the 1980s with “The Safety Dance“.

Rhythm of Youth is the debut album of Canadian synthpop group Men Without Hats, released in 1982.

The first thing you notice (and a very pleasant thing for me) is that Ivan Doroschuk, who does the vocals as mentioned before, is a baritone, which means that I CAN ACTUALLY SING MOST OF THOSE SONGS! The other notable thing is that, while most of the songs don’t make any effort to stray from the signature synthesizer sound you quickly become acquainted with on “Living In China”, (a perhaps unfittingly upbeat, but still catchy track about the Communist Revolution) they do spin quite a few tricks.

For example, instead of using mainly the synths in “I Got The Message”, they build upon them with a vocal melody and French lyrics! “Cocoricci” also has French lyrics, and I find them incredibly pleasant (I speak both French and English, but because of Reddit, I cringe when someone speaks French with an English inflection).

There is also a sort of anthemic track, (or maybe a minimalist anthem?) which is “The Great Ones Remember”. It contains the sort of catharsis-enducing melody you hear in Journey songs, but there isn’t much meat to the fullness that those tracks have. It’s not even a problem; it’s kind of fresh, actually. Fresh enough so that the reprise at the end doesn’t feel unwelcome.

Although there isn’t much to say about “Ideas For Walls”, as it takes quite a few elements from “Living In China”, but without the possibly intentional hilarity, but the two tracks that follow it are winners: “Things In My Life” has a Sega Genesis air to it thanks to the bass and synth-guitar riff between each line in the verses, and let’s not forget the solo that really hits the spot.

“I Like” hits the same kind of nerve as “Things In My Life”, but is more compressed, and in a way feels even more satisfyingly conclusive. It could pretty well have served as the end, since it has such a great ending phrase as “it’s plain to see, life is not a mystery to me”, but again, there is the reprise to “The Great Ones Remember” after that. Oh well, it’s not an intolerable post-conclusion. Maybe it’s the ending credits or something. Actually, since it has barely any vocals, it could be the music they play in cinemas in-between movie screenings. That’s fine with me.

Tracklist

1. “Ban the Game” – 0:48
2. “Living in China” – 3:04
3. “The Great Ones Remember” (I. Doroschuk, Allan McCarthy) – 4:41
4. “I Got the Message” – 4:44
5. “Cocoricci (Le tango des voleurs)” (I. Doroschuk, McCarthy) – 3:24
6. “The Safety Dance” – 2:44
7. “Ideas for Walls” – 2:59
8. “Things in My Life” (I. Doroschuk, Jeremie Arrobas) – 4:56
9. “I Like” – 4:19
10. “The Great Ones Remember” (reprise) (I. Doroschuk, Stefan Doroschuk) – 1:59