Tom Hauck began his music career as a founding member of the Atlantics, one of Boston's seminal punk/pop bands in the late 1970s. The Atlantics were signed to ABC Records in 1978. The following year their album Big City Rock was released. In 1980 the Atlantics' recording of Tom's song quot;Lonelyheartsquot; rocketed to the top of the New England radio charts. Other regional hits for the Atlantics included quot;Pop Shivers,quot; quot;Weekend,quot; and quot;Wrong Number.quot; In 1983 Tom and Bruce Wilkinson formed the dance/synth group Ball and Pivot, which scored the MTV and V-66 smash hit quot;Down.quot; Tom left the music business in 1990 and devoted his time to his family. In 2004 he spearheaded the digital re-release of the Atlantics and Ball and Pivot catalogues. Tom's recent solo CDs are Pistonhead (2012) and Afterlife (2013). REVIEW IN THE NOISE / BOSTON - June 2014 Tom Hauck's latest is a mostly solid block of superbly accomplished songs... I'd love to hear some cover versions of just about all of these songs, which offer up an amazing amalgamation of diverse garage styles. Opener quot;Shining Starquot; has a decided bite, as though ZZ Top were composing an acid garage punk anthem. quot;Ancient Historyquot; is a sneering sing-song punk anthem ala Joan Jett, with superadded wild guitar riffage. quot;Lonelyheartsquot; is a new wave anti-love song worthy of the Buzzcocks, what with it's pulsing declamatory feel. quot;Plastic Heartquot; reminds me of an uncharacteristically uptempo Black Sabbath, while quot;I Got Upquot; is reminiscent of classic proto-punk such as quot;Talk Talkquot; by the Music Machine. quot;Poison Teaquot; reminds me of the Turbines with a decidedly nasty edge and enjoyably skewed lyrics. quot;Work Togetherquot; is a choppy declamatory punctuated by some appealing minimalist guitar licks. quot;Love Me Tenderquot; is an entertaining Elvis riff whose chief charm is it's brevity. quot;No Rest for the Wearyquot; is another sing-songy new wave rave-up punctuated by a telegraphic guitar riff; quot;Racing the Sunquot; reminds me a bit of early XTC with the twee melodicism of Queen and another inimitable guitar line. If anything, the final track encapsulates the remarkable diversity of this admirable collection. A genuine keeper. One of the best collections of the year. (Francis DiMenno)
