As part of the first big gush of punk and new wave in San Francisco, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions attained a level of success that was substantial but fleeting. On April 25, Liberation Hall is reissuing their self-titled debut album on vinyl with one bonus track and the UK cover design. The compact disc and digital download add six more bonus cuts from the period to provide a vivid portrait of a band whose high melodic energies suggest considerable untapped potential.
Like numerous punk-affiliated bands from the original era, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions grew out of a historically notable local act, in this case, Leila and the Snakes, an outfit associated with The Tubes featuring singer Jane Dornacker, guitarist Miles Corbin, bassist Pamela Wood, and drummer Scott Free. After attending a talent audition organized by The Tubes, Pearl E. Gates joined Leila and the Snakes at the urging of Dornacker.
Gates (later known as Pearl Harbor) is credited as a backing singer on Leila and the Snakes only non-archival release, the “Rock & Roll Weirdos” b/w “Pyramid Power” single, which came out in 1978 on Asp Records. An album was recorded (produced by Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers) but left unreleased. After Wood and Free left the band they were replaced by the brothers Stench, Hilary, and John, who in due time followed Gates/Harbor to the exit to form the Explosions.
Their debut LP was released in January 1980 and it stands as a prime example of a band honing their sound for wider acceptance (i.e. mainstream appeal) without alienating their core audience. Of course, by the dawn of the 1980s any concessions to the marketplace on the part of bands that were aligned with the punk scene would be viewed by a segment of the community as a betrayal and be met with hostility.
It’s clear from the album that Pearl Harbor and the Explosions were not going to be hindered by allegiances to the local scene. Any song on the LP could’ve been added to the rotation at any commercial rock radio station in the country circa 1980. This is not necessarily the case with the more frantic edgy energies of their first single, “Drivin’” b/w “Release It,” which came out on 415 Records in 1979.
The single did get them signed to Warner Bros. Cut with producer David Kahne, the LP is far from an egregious sell-out, but it is clear that Warner Bros. was actively pursuing a return on their investment, at least initially. The live tracks, which include a sweet cover of Nick Lowe’s “Let’s Eat,” provide evidence of the focused intensity of which Pearl Harbor and the Explosions were capable prior to the Stench brothers getting the bright idea that they should go in a jazz fusion direction.
Unsurprisingly, the Explosions broke up, which was ultimately for the best. Untapped potential is always preferable to the stalled momentum brought on by an underwhelming second album.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
