Beyond Today: Live At The Farm San Francisco 1986
Liberation Hall, 2025
8/10
Listen to Beyond Today: Live At The Farm San Francisco 1986
The revered New Wave outfit, Translator, bring us their first live album, where 12 tracks that document their period at Columbia Records and a pair of studio tracks mixed last year illuminate a criminally overlooked band.
The lively spirit of “Beyond Today” opens with Steve Barton’s dense guitar and thoughtful vocals that align with both emotion and power in the melodic climate, and “Necessary Spinning” continues the energy with Dave Scheff’s thumping drums suiting the swirling guitars.
Deeper into the set, the speedy “Standing In Line” benefits from Larry Dekker’s strategic bass and the talk/singing, while “O Lazarus” allows for Robert Darrington’s rhythmic guitar to complement a hint of dreaminess.
The last live tune is the retro rock’n’roll fueled “Roll Over Beethoven”, which showcases guitar acrobatics and an infectious mood that spotlights the meticulous rhythm section, and of the studio tracks, “With Your Dreams” is particularly memorable via the romantic wordplay, slight jangle and harmonic sensibilities.
Even though they shared the stage with names like the Kinks, R.E.M. and Sparks, Translator never saw the global success they deserved. Perhaps one of the first true ‘alternative rock’ bands, their unique formula of Brit-rock, folk-rock, punk and psychedelia sounds both nostalgic and modern here, and thankfully they’re still sporadically active today.
Travels well with: The Mutants- Curse Of The Easily Amused; 999- Emergency At The Old Waldorf 1979