NITS - New Flat

Facts After an enjoyable but relatively tame debut from 1978 and a creative leap forward with 1979's Tent, the Nits took a detour for this 1981 release, losing the casual fan along the way but gaining far more credibility and more fervent adulation from their remaining fans. New Flat is a strange album, plain and simple. "New Flat," the album opener, sounds like an early Devo outtake. Other tracks seem stripped down to their basics, then disassembled and rearranged for no apparent reason. Funny thing is, it all works brilliantly. The Nits may be artsy-fartsy, but they still know how to reel in the listener.