The Projected Passion Revue

Album review

Kevin Rowland always has been about relentless, eccentric change, which sometimes meant that not all of his metamorphoses were properly documented on record. Chief among those neglected phases is the Projected Passion Revue, an art-soul ensemble Rowland pursued after the startling success of Dexys Midnight Runners debut, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. Following its 1980 release, Rowland delved deeper into soul, rejiggering the Dexys lineup to create the the Projected Passion Revue, a Dexys incarnation that lasted only 12 months, never recording a full album yet leaving indelible memories among the hardcore fortunate to see them in 1981. They did cut a few singles, some showing up on comps and reissues over the years, but 2007's The Projected Passion Revue is the first major excavation of this largely undocumented yet legendary year. This single disc collects all the recordings -- released and unreleased, studio and live -- that this band did during that brief, tumultuous year and it is quite clearly a transitional effort between Young Soul Rebels and Too-Rye-Ay, yet it's quite clearly its own thing. This music -- As and Bs of three singles, a full BBC In Concert from May of 1981, and a three-song Richard Skinner Session from two months later -- manages to be wilder than Searching, its unwieldiness suggesting the careening band of Too-Rye-Ay, but where that played up the Celtic in the group's Irish soul, this is firmly within the soul camp, building upon that undercurrent from the debut yet pushing it to the limits. The Projected Passion Revue is punchier than Searching, sometimes giving the illusion that it's more professional, yet this is still punk at its heart: there's a reason why "passion" is the pivotal word in this revue, as this music surges with passion, most evident on Rowland's guttural, unhinged growls and yelps. This sprawling, excited band matches the enthusiasm of their frontman: they're ragged but right, playing with furor and occasionally precision, a precision that is necessary if the horn players are going to hit their marks at the same time. Their three singles were full of potential, but it's the live recordings that really capture the essence of the Projected Passion Revue, how they were boundless in their ambition and energy. Reading the testimonials that form the liner notes -- from John Aizlewood, Gary Crowley, David Quantick, and Daryl Easlea -- it's hard not to wish that the band lasted longer, either to create a full-fledged album or to have more of its performances documented, but until 2007 that's all that this phase of the Dexys was: legend. With the release of The Projected Passion Revue, particularly the live recordings, that legend comes alive; this collection functions as a necessary part of the band's history and still sounds thrillingly alive all these years later.

© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo