Suicide: Martin Rev, Allen Vega.Seven years after the duo's inception, Suicide's debut album finally sneaked out in 1977 on the coat tails of the nascent New York punk scene. If its aim had been to confuse, startle, or repulse, SUICIDE succeeded in spades. By the same token, if a part-time sculptor and avant-garde jazz musician form a two-chord synthesizer duo and call it Suicide, commercial considerations are presumably low on their list of priorities. SUICIDE was a record destined to have future journalists reaching for words like "seminal". Synth duos start here.SUICIDE's bleak, one-act plays of violence and sexual deviance, and that lo-fi monotone punctuated by sleazy groans and horrifying screams, still induce nervous tension despite the passing years. To hear Alan Vega, an Elvis caricature out of time, crooning "Girl" is unsettling enough. When he acts out the desperation of "Frankie Teardrop" over the strictly controlled minimalism of Martin Rev's grinding keyboard and time-bomb rhythm, you're guaranteed a listening experience quite unlike any other.
Review
Martin Rev's dense, unnerving electronics -- including a menacing synth bass, a drum machine that sounds like an idling motorcycle, and harshly hypnotic organs -- and Alan Vega's ghostly, Gene Vincent-esque vocals defined the group's sound and provided the blueprints for post-punk, synth pop, and industrial rock in the process. - All Music 5/5
