The jangle of
the Byrds early records lived on through New York City's the Optic Nerve in the mid-'80s. Get Hip Recordings has compiled their existing 45s with several unreleased tracks to make up
Lotta Nerve, A blistering 13 songs that evoke a number of trippy psychedelic folk-rock bands that emerged from London and California during the late '60s. Listening to the crisp Rickenbacker 12-string guitars and frail harmonies it is difficult to believe this music isn't actually from 20 years earlier, but the Optic Nerve's sense of authenticity belies the fact that their chronological contemporaries were mid-'80s icons like
Madonna and
Culture Club.
Lotta Nerve is a refreshing follow-up to the debut of
the Rolling Stones' brash swagger and a logical precursor to
the Stone Roses' swirling guitar rock. ~ Zac Johnson