Lolita Nation [Deluxe Edition] (1987)

Game Theory leader Scott Miller never made a secret of his fondness for Big Star, and while Real Nighttime favored the lush but direct sound of #1 Record, and The Big Shot Chronicles suggested the harder-edged tone of Radio City, Lolita Nation plays like Game Theory's variation on the themes of Big Star's masterfully damaged swan song, Third/Sister Lovers. Certainly Game Theory's most ambitious album, Lolita Nation was a two-LP set that combined some of Miller's most user-friendly power pop squared off against dark, moody ... Read More

Game Theory leader Scott Miller never made a secret of his fondness for Big Star, and while Real Nighttime favored the lush but direct sound of #1 Record, and The Big Shot Chronicles suggested the harder-edged tone of Radio City, Lolita Nation plays like Game Theory's variation on the themes of Big Star's masterfully damaged swan song, Third/Sister Lovers. Certainly Game Theory's most ambitious album, Lolita Nation was a two-LP set that combined some of Miller's most user-friendly power pop squared off against dark, moody ruminations on betrayal, failed love, and mortality, all of it punctuated with bursts of avant-garde noise and unclassifiable studio doodling, and finally thrown into a sonic Cuisinart through Miller's aggressive use of aural montage. Game Theory's most challenging work, Lolita Nation is a bit disorienting on first listen, though it finds the band playing at the very top of its form on demanding material. New guitarist Donnette Thayer made an impressive debut, and drummer Gil Ray and keyboardist Shelley LaFreniere delivered outstanding performances. There are more than a few flat-out brilliant tracks, such as "Chardonnay," "The Waist and the Knees," and "The Real Sheila," alongside such head-scratchers as "Turn Me on Dead Man," "Watch Who You're Calling Space Garbage Meteor Mouth," and the 22nd track (which stubbornly defies titling). Lolita Nation was the point where the many ideas and approaches Miller had experimented with on Game Theory's earlier albums finally came together in a (pardon the expression) blaze of glory, and if the album is a bit much to absorb on first listen, few rock albums of the '80s reward repeated listening more than this one. Miller was one of the few rock musicians who often (and fittingly) cited James Joyce as an influence, and Lolita Nation is his Ulysses , a dense, profoundly idiosyncratic masterpiece. [In 2016, after years out of print, Omnivore Recordings gave Lolita Nation an impressive remastered and expanded reissue. The audio is a significant improvement over the slightly brittle sound of Enigma Records' 1987 CD release, with a more satisfying low end and a wealth of detail difficult to discern in the original release. Omnivore's edition is expanded to two discs, with a second CD devoted to bonus material. The high point is a 7:49 version of "Chardonnay" that was edited so that the album would fit on a single CD for the 1987 release. Most of the other bonus tracks are either rough drafts or live performances of covers, but hearing the band make its way through versions of everything from Elvis Costello and David Bowie to the Stooges and Public Image Ltd. delivers a splendid look at the many sounds that informed Miller's musical world view. Add in an excellent oral history of Game Theory from Real Nighttime through Lolita Nation and you have the definitive presentation of an overlooked classic of '80s pop.] ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Read Less

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