Animotion
Strange Behavior
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

1986 Original. "The Sophomore Effort From L.a. New Wavers Animotion Locates The Exact Midpoint Between Trendy Synth Pop And Aor Crunch. Slickly Produced By The Well-traveled Richie Zito, The Ten Songs Alternate Bright Keyboard Stabs With Guitarist Don Kirkpatrick's Power Chords, And Every Track Has A Hook That Sounds Market-tested -- Making Strange Behavior Play Like The Soundtrack To Some Mid-'80s Action Flick. That Wouldn't Be Such A Bad Thing, Since A Few Songs Have Real Staying Power -- In Particular, Song Doctor Holly Knight's "I Engineer," With Its Chanted Chorus And Take-charge Message. But, Unfortunately, None Of The Tracks Possess The Same Sleazy Charm That Made Animotion's 1985 Single "Obsession" A Pop And Dance Chart-topper. Hearing Vocalists Bill Wadhams And Astrid Plane Tossing Bad Pickup Lines At Each Other On That Song Was A Big Part Of Its Appeal, But Here The Pair Is Mostly Disconnected, Alternating Leads And Only Playing Off One Another On "Out Of Control," With Much Less Impressive Results. A Little Warmth -- Or Just Carnal Heat -- From The Two Would Have Gone A Long Way On This Album, Which Is Ultimately Too Cool And Polished For Its Own Good." AMG - Dan LeRoy