Lene Lovich - Flex...Plus

To keep my head expanding

Of all the quirky artists to emerge from the Stiff Record roster, Lene Lovich was in contention for the quirkiest. With her multi-octave vocal squeals borrowed from Yma Sumac and Yoko Ono mashed with a B-52's sense of absurd pop, both her "Stateless" debut and this follow-up, issued within a year of each other, were theatrical new wave triumphs. Of course, that meant the kiss of death for Lene in 1980; US audiences were still not ready for this.

Which is too bad. The first four songs here are absolutely brilliant, with "Bird Song" becoming an overseas hit and a hoot of a video. "What Will I Do Without You" is a danceable catchy should've been a hit, as was "Angels." In the tradition of "I Think We're Alone Now," that got her noticed, Lene scores another bulls-eye cover by transforming "The Night" from its Franki Valli/4 Seasons origin to a full-on goth-disco rave. Lene and her partner Les Chappell (the tall chrome-domed one in her videos) were originals in a year when Christopher Cross was winning the Grammy for best new artist.

The bonus tracks - for a change - add value to the "Flex" reissue. You get the "New Toy" EP and a pair of songs from the lackluster "No Man's Land" third album. The Thomas Dolby penned "New Toy" is a new wave classic, and probably the closest thing Lene had to an American hit. (As well as being a precursor to Dolby's own hits.) The main single from "No Man's Land," "It's You Only You (Mien Schmerz)" was the best thing on that album, and "Blue Hotel" is pretty cool. But Lene's notoriety was fleeting and this was pretty much her high-water mark. "Flex" remains breathtakingly bizarre even 27 years later. September 22, 2007

Leaves You Speechless after "Stateless"

There was nobody NOBODY on vinyl in the early '80's who was squeaking, squawking and stabbing through musical voyages as was Lene Lovich. Afraid of nothing in the arrangements and melodies, she sang about the fears of love, loneliness, and loyalty from a pervasive feminine perspective and often framed her songs in staccato, paranoia-arte 80's sonics. But there is nothing "chicks only" about her music and certainly the enjoyability of it will give more than just your ears a rise. A compelling punk/wave-age artist who was never really followed or mimicked either genre (yawn, did someone say Nina Hagen?) An elusive, unique voice right for its time, but does not fade in among the era's disposable music corral. May 22, 2007

The BEST Lene you could own!

After listening to her now years later, I can see where this would be her "Gothic" album! Some of the songs are down right chilling! "Birdsong" and "The Freeze" and "You Can't Kill Me" are simply devine! A must have for any Lene fan! Dark, brilliant and fun! After listening to this brilliant work, you will see where EBM and darkwave elements were first displayed.

I recently purchased a video of 5 of Lene's songs. One of the songs was "BirdSong". Wow! What a dark and spooky video! Not only is Lene a genious at song writing, but her visual flair is astounding! April 15, 2005

THE "MUST HAVE" LENE LOVICH

FOR ANYONE WHO IS A SERIOUS COLLECTOR OF MID-SEVENTIES TO MID EIGHTIES PUNK, THIS IS DEFINATELY A MUST HAVE! WHEN THIS RECORDING HIT THE MARKET, LENE HAD ALREADY MADE THE PUNK SCENE WITH HER FIRST RELEASE, "STATELESS" AND QUITE FRANKLY, A LOT OF MY FRIENDS THOUGHT THAT THE FIRST RECORDING WOULD BE THE LAST; YOU KNOW THE "FLASH IN THE PAN" THING LIKE SO MANY ARTISTS DID. BUT WHEN THIS RECORDING WAS RELEASED AND WORD GOT AROUND THE CLUBS AND THE CIRCUIT IN GENERAL, THERE WAS A RUSH TO THE MUSIC STORES AND BEFORE THREE MONTHS PASTED, EVERYONE THAT I KNEW WAS PLAYING IT ALMOST NON-STOP!! WITH THIS RECORDING, LENE DID A FUSING OF PUNK ROOTS WITH HIGH ELECTIC-TECHNO RHYTHMS AND THE RESULTS ARE A BLEND OF LENE'S UNIQUE VOCALS, TREMENDOUS MUSICIANSHIP AND SUPERB ARTISTRY IN THE STUDIO. TO THIS DAY, I AM ENTHRALLED BY THIS RECORDING AND EACH TIME I TAKE IT OFF THE SHELF, IT HAS THE ABILITY TO TAKE ME BACK TO THE DAYS OF MY REBELLIOUS YOUTH WITH ALL IT'S FREEDOM, CREATIVITY, SPONTANEITY AND WONDERFUL WILDNESS. AGAIN, THIS IS A MUST HAVE!! March 15, 2002

You must, you must want!

Ok, let's see. I bought the US LP when it first came out [I cruised the record stores for months waiting for the follow-up to STATELESS], then the Japanese LP, because it was cool, then I got the German one with the seafoam green vinyl. Why? Because I could not bear to ever wear out this album! If you are looking at this album, you must have had some reason. Well, just buy it! When I saw that Rhino had released this on CD back in 1990, I just about fainted in the record store! I bought them and RAN home to play it and it's sister CD Flex...plus.

OK, enough melodrama. Now about the music. From the first few seconds of the album, when you realize that the 'bird' is really her voice, you are hooked. Her voice is one of those distinctive ones, not great but somehow good. The only way to describe her is the B52's, but with sultry vocals and more soulful. She manages to have a nu-wave album that isn't electronic. She is one of a kind, and this album is her best work of art.

FYI: The bonus tracks make up the 'New Toy' EP from 1981. The last 2 tracks are from her more pop-oriented LP 'No-Man's Land' which HAS see CD, but as an import that has long since disappeared. UPDATE 2007: Seems that the bonus tracks have changed for the MP3 version of Flex. Only 2 tracks, 'New Toy' and 'Details' are from the EP. You can get 2 other EP songs on Lene's Greatest Hits compilation. 'Never Never Land' is the New Toy EP version, and 'Savages' is the remixed version from the 'No Man's Land' LP. July 22, 2001

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