The Sacramento-based duo
Cause & Effect released its debut album
Another Minute in 1991. Actually a slightly reconfigured version of an earlier independent release,
Another Minute owes much of its sound to brooding, synth-rock pioneers such as
Depeche Mode. Vocalist and guitarist Robert Rowe and musician and producer Sean Rowley manage to incorporate actual melody into the songs on
Another Minute. Unfortunately, the amateurish production makes the material sound lifeless. Songs like "Echoing Green" and "Farewell to Arms" are underarranged and sluggish, and even up-tempo tunes like "Nothing Comes to Mind" drag. Two tracks from the original independent release (titled simply
Cause and Effect, released on Elite Records) appear on
Another Minute in remixed versions; not surprisingly, "You Think You Know Her" (a
Depeche sound-alike that went Top 40 in 1992) and the
New Order sound-alike "What Do You See" are helped immensely by the fleshed-out production, and are the only tunes here that make any lasting impression.
Another Minute, while an unspectacular debut, introduced
Cause & Effect as a promising, melodic young band, and the album became a minor hit. Sadly, Rowley passed away in late 1992 from asthma-related cardiac arrest. Rowe soldiered on, however, regrouping
Cause & Effect with musicians Richard Shepherd and Keith Milo, and releasing a very good sophomore effort (Trip) in 1994. [Zoo released the CD in 1991.] ~ William Cooper