The Knack - …But the Little Girls Understand

 (Capitol, 1980)

Review by Class Warrior

Is it strange that a person named Class Warrior loves power pop?  Strange it may be, but it’s true – I have an unrepentant admiration for catchy melodies and sugary sweet vocals.  I’m not very picky about it, either.  As long as it’s got hooks and a bit of style, I will listen, I will dance, I will sing along, I will play air guitar.  I’m not sure how to define what power pop is, but I know it when I hear it.  And the Knack is it!

Doug Fieger, the lead singer of the Knack, died on Valentine’s Day 2010.  His band deserves the honor of being the first power pop group to have their album reviewed on this prestigious website.  He may not be as famous as Ronnie James Dio in this neck of the internet, but his band’s music has meant as much to me (and many others) as Dio’s has to his vast legion of followers.  I love RJD, but I love the Knack even more.

Everyone knows their first album “Get the Knack.”  I vaguely remember “My Sharona” playing on the radio as a five- or six-year old.  That song was the big hit from the album, but it is filled with awesome power pop gems.  “Good Girls Don’t” is a particularly clever bit of misogyny (not that I condone such feelings toward women, but it’s hard to deny such a rocking song) but has some great lyrics encouraging oral sex – “An in-between age madness that you know you can’t erase / till she’s sittin’ on your face…”  I don’t mean to go on too much about an album I’m not reviewing here, but “My Sharona” contains the absolute best non-heavy metal guitar solo ever recorded.  I have played air guitar to that solo countless times.  Either that or air drums – the drumming on that album is totally intense.  Listen to the record and see if I’m lying or not.  If you’re reading reviews on this site, you’re probably a Hessian or (perhaps) a punk rocker, so you hate this stuff on sheer principle.  Give it a chance.  It might grow on you.  It’s an absolute classic.

“…But the Little Girls Understand,” their second album, isn’t as strong as their first effort, but it still has some very good songs.  It roars out of the gate with “Baby Talks Dirty,” which sounds great even though it’s a deliberate attempt to recreate the magic of “My Sharona.”  A band is allowed only so many strokes of genius, so it falls short of that goal.  Nevertheless, it rocks hard in its own right.  It does a good job batting leadoff on the album, which is all one can ask of a first song.

The three best songs on this album are: “I Want Ya,” a hard rocking hook-filled gem that sort of reminds me of the early Beatles for some reason; “It’s You,” yet another rocker with a very strong melody; and “You Can’t Put a Price on Love,” which is a tuneful ballad.  I’m a soft touch at times, so a good ballad can hit me right in the heart.  It sounds like a song that plays at 2 a.m. when the bar has just about cleared out, and you’re sitting there alone nursing your cheap beer and thinking about lost love and broken hearts.  Somehow the song makes you feel a little better as you stare at the foam lacing the glass.  “When push comes to shove, ooh baby, you gave me enough.”  So you go home and give it another try the next day.

Many of the remaining songs are enjoyable, but none are on the level of the four songs I’ve discussed so far.  At times it seems they are a little too strongly derivative of their influences.  There’s a Beach Boys song, a rockabilly number, a song with a slide blues solo, etc.  They’re well done, but, like I said, either not as rockin’ as the others or a little too unoriginal.

I wouldn’t mind if they threw in an occasional song about the revolution instead of singing about love all the time.  My ideal band would have the music of the Knack’s first album (or the Buzzcocks, take your pick!) and the lyrics of Bad Religion.  What a great fucking band that would be!

This album earns seven and a half (out of a possible ten) skinny ties.  It’s a bit uneven with filler songs here and there, but the best tunes are almost on par with the solid gold power pop nuggets on “Get the Knack”.  Odds are good that you, dear reader, wouldn’t touch this album with a ten-foot pole because you’re a big tough guy.  If this is how you feel, it’s your loss.  (In case you’re curious, “Get the Knack,” the archetypal power pop album, would rate ten skinny ties.)

Power pop rules!

As an aside, I have owned a skinny tie for the past fifteen years, but have not found an excuse to wear it.  Please, dear World, give me a reason.  Maybe I’ll have to create my own occasion.  I guess it won’t be at the next Knack concert.  RIP, Doug Fieger.