Oingo Boingo EP

This is their self titled Ep released in 1980. It was produced by Michael Boshears and Jo Julian and released on I.R.S. Records. And thought this isn't from 2014 I am going to use this as a building block for my next album.... kinda. Well I thought I should do this before I do Only A Lad and you know that's their debut album.

1. Only A Lad: I'm going to be honest right now, I think that I prefer this verison of the title track from the 1981 Debut album. The production on this I think may not nessicarly be better I enjoy the sounds here. It also reminds me a little of The Forbidden Zone soundtrack. That and Edward Scissorhands is my two favorite things Danny Elfman's composed, you know like the score and stuff. This is so quick and  actually longer than the album version. I also love the guitar tones here. The "choir" part you know the "Society has made him go astray" sounds way cooler robotically than it does on the album. This sounds very clowny and just the tones on this track are beautiful.
2. Violent Love: This song, thought a cover, is one of my favorite songs ever. There isn't any other version, other than possibly their rerecorded 1988 Boingo Alive version of the song, that can even stand up next to this bad boy. This is a cover of a song that Willie Dixon wrote and was actually recorded at one point by Muddy Waters. The voices in the intro sound like Iggy Pop, and this is like a song that should make Ska a genre taken more seriously. I mean, yeah the lyrics are hilarious, but everything about this track from the vocals, to the guitar tones, to the production to the horn solo just make this song a prefect candidate for my favorite songs of all time. This reminds me of Good Lovin' in a way by Grateful Dead, but it's much better and not as boring upon repeated listens.
3. Ain't This The Life - 10" EP: If I'm correct the difference between the 10" and 12" is the drummer and the length. Not a big time difference, but still. This track.......... the harmony and the vocals and the every which way about this song screams to me. I'm infatuated with this track. And the fact that on their debut release, not the Demo EP or the 1976 single You Got You Baby Back (they were The Mystical Knights of The Oingo Boingo) this is great and makes anything after this live up to it. I still love the debut, but this is tough competition.
4. I'm So Bad: This sounds like an outtake from the Forbidden Zone, well it doesn't have a bunch of different singers, but Squeezit The Moucher doesn't either. While I don't think this track is as good as some of the others here, I still like that it's dark in contrast to the other tracks. I mean they all were, but this is darker sounding and more moody than the others. This also appears on the Demo EP from 1979.
5. Ain't This The Life - 12" EP: This sound quality is a little more foggy here, it's also 9 seconds shorter. The feeling on the 10" is what I perfer, but this is also crazy and probably more silly sounding. This is only included on the 12" and cassette version of the EP.

Overall I have to give this EP a 9/10. The Ep is a great beginning for a great band, and I just love this. I'd pay how ever much to get my hands on this vinyl copy.