Jayne County - Amerikan Cleopatra (2023) [Hi-Res]

This oddly abbreviated U.S. release of the Private Oyster album sheds that set's title track and jumbles the track listing, but otherwise serves up the same dose of pop/rocking garage fun that European audiences had already been enjoying for two years or so. And it is enjoyable, both as the latest chapter in County's mercurial career and as an unexpected oasis of true rocking fun in the midst of that wasteland that the rest of the world called the '80s. "I Fell in Love with a Russian Soldier" and "The Lady Dye Twist" might have jokey titles -- indeed, the latter had jokey lyrics as well, as County demands a wedding "just like Lady Diana." But both songs are a solid pop master class regardless, a mood that stretches over the remainder of this infuriatingly seldom-seen album. Several of the songs are familiar from past outings -- the live Rock 'n' Roll Resurrection included both "Bad in Bed" and "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl," but the new versions are at least as powerful as those renditions, and Private Oyster's only real downfall lies in the less than lavish production that is draped across the grooves. An album like this needed a genius at the controls -- Phil Spector or Andrew Loog Oldham should have produced County, or, failing that, Todd Rundgren or Bob Ezrin. Instead -- the record still sounds good. But it should have been better. © Dave Thompson