Don't Throw Stones

Fun listen. Thanks for suggesting.

I hadn't heard of this band before, but after a single listen it's clear that these songs stack up favorably with popular music of the time, e.g. Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Squeeze. The songs are catchy but not simplistic, well-produced but not over-produced. Surprising and disappointing that they weren't more well known. 4 stars.

Never heard of them before, but they've instantly become one of my favorite Australian bands. They hit the spot somewhere between Nick Lowe and Joe Jackson. Cracker of an album. Cheers mate.

Thank you for the user album submission, Robert Dimery.

Always open to new suggestions. If they have this great look, even better. If it's a reference that belongs to the best years of pop music, how life could be better? :) I didn't know this Australian band. And it's not going to change my life either. But I loved it. A fresh, catchy, positive album... belonging to such creative years that it seems like nothing could go wrong

The Sports had untill today never before crossed my path, but I immediately like their sound. Elvis Costello meets Joe Jackson. Maybe not as memorable, yet still an enjoyable listen.

Wow this was so dull and basic and vaguely 80s that I'm shocked this artist isn't on the real list 5+ times

Probably ass

A fun new wave album - if the list wasn't already inundated with stuff like this I'd probably be a bit more invested. 7/10

7/10. Oh, forgot to rate this the day I listened to it, but it was pretty cool.

Pretty genereic, but enjoyable

Enjoyable from this Yank, but not super memorable. Never heard of this band or any of the songs before. Kind of dug "Hit Single" and "Who Listens to the Radio".

Good Aussie rock, not on the level of bands like Icehouse or INXS but still alright. Recognise a few tracks from drinking with older mates over the years. 3/5.

This lively new wave would be far too easy to miss without help; Thanks! With tongue firmly in cheek, the Sports barrel forward with a vocal affect which predicts Nick Cave.

It's fine, brought down by the late 70s/early 80s production.

A good album, but I wonder what was new about it compared to its contemporaries.

New to me. Stylistically kind of all over the map - I found all of it reasonably enjoyable buy as an album it didn't quite come together.

A late 70s / early 80s post punk / new wave album?? Was this added by our author??? It wasn’t these guys are Australian not UK. but sound-wise in the ballpark of the 1001 post punk album list

C’est pas mauvais, ca sonne bien mais ca fait deux fois je recommence l’album et je me rend pas a la fin. Ca sonne beaucoupnpareil tout le long. 3

Nice sound

Good energetic rock n roll (not punk)

It's enjoyable I guess, they've got some undeniable charisma, but I get nothing out of it that I don't get from other bands I enjoy more. I feel like this is the exact type of album that this list is already far too full of.

aussie post-punk / new-wave, sounding a lot like a whole heap of more famous bands - not in a bad way! bands from down under are definitely under-represented in the book, and the user list seems (so far) to be going a long way to redress that balance.

Very good. Never heard of them but it's aged superbly.

Standouts: Don't Throw Stones, Who Listens to the Radio The rest of the album is fine. 3.5

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Suspicious minds, Don’t throw stones, Thru the window, Who listens to the radio, Tired of me, Hit single

Ooo I like this quite a lot! This is exactly what I want to discover - new to me new wave / rock / pop punk from the 70s or 80s! I love this. Way to go Aussies, you've done it again.

I definitely had fun with this. It has a little bit of a punk edge to rock with a lot of pop hooks and harmonies. The lead singer's voice fits well and is easy to enjoy. Fits in the Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Graham Parker space for me. Very enjoyable.

Do we really need another Elvis Costello album on the list? To be fair, this also sounds a lot like: Joe Jackson, Squeeze, Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzie, The Undertones and I’m sure a few others. Thankfully I like most of those things so listening to this isn’t a problem.

Suprised by how groovy this was!

This was pretty enjoyable

Hadn’t heard this and somehow knew they were Australian. Fun listen

This sounds like a lot of my favourite late 70's New Wave bands so although they are a revelation to me I grew to like them with each track. These guys were contemporaries to the guys in the UK and US and it's a shame they didn't get the exposure they deserved. It has every trick in the book with the Sax solo thrown in for fun. A great submission to the ranks- thanks to the user who added this.

Quick listen suggests that Joe Jackson might have grounds to file a copyright violation lawsuit for several of these songs, including title track. That's another way of saying this is strong, crisp, earnest and just a touch spiky new wave, pure late-70s to early-80s vintage. It's well balanced, neither overdoing the synths nor the rockier guitar elements, with nice grace notes, like the sax solo on "Tired of Me." Vocalist is compellling and knows what he's doing. There's a likable melancholy (e.g., on "Step by Step") that speaks to the best of this era and genre. One digs pretty thoroughly, meaning this lot have easily entered one's personal pantheon of top-10 Aussie acts of all time. Thus, one's grateful to recommender for making the intro. List proper would be very much improved by this replacing (just looking at 1979) Germs and Gary Numan. It's safe to say they should be much better known.

I liked this one a lot!

Who Listens to the Radio was a minor hit in the USA. I think this would have been a fun album to listen to back in 1979... 3.5

This one was fun! Had some interesting, catchy melodies to share in its apt runtime. Good album to get going in the morning and an enjoyable listen overall.

Wasn't looking forward to this as it would generally not be my thing from the sounds of it. However it knocked along quite nicely.

I love a good pub rock/power pop deep cut, so I really enjoyed this. Also a good example of an Aussie band, something the original list mostly ignores. Crisp and mildly punchy, with a strong pop sensibility. Solid choice. Fave Songs: Don't Throw Stones, Thru the Window, Who Listens to the Radio, Worst Kind, Step By Step, Suspicious Minds

pretty good rock

New wave, rock, pop. Ni fu ni fa.

This was a fairly standard new wave album. It was a fun listen but I didn't really hear anything that adds to the original list. Always good to get another Australian album though! The list is too heavily skewed towards the UK and the USA.

Average

Áhugavert! Hélt fyrst að söngvarinn væri Joe Jackson, en svo er ekki. Hljómar rosalega svipaður.

This sounds exactly as something that should be in the original list. Basic and average

This was a pretty fun listen. Catchy and entertaining.

Hmmm...I think that they should have saved that "Tired of Me" track for the end, because it made me think "yeah, I kinda am". I thought it was a bit fun for a minute, but then it just was.

This made me think of the AM radio music in the background of late '70s summer memories. Enjoyable but not distinctly memorable to me.

Wiki states that The Sports were a big thing in Australia. I didn't miss much by not knowing them before.

The album cover looks like bro-Talking Heads. The music sounds like proto 80s indie rock.

They've got a real Origin feel to them. I guess one of the influences at the time was INXS, which makes sense that a lot of the bands at the time would have this type of sound. Upbeat, uptempo, energetic. Interesting. Glad it was recommended. I still don't like that there are 10 seconds of silence before a song starts. Can someone tell me what that silence is for?

Huhhh another pretty nondescript band. Honestly, it's hard to say something about this since I'm pretty sure I heard an album identical to this on the list at some point. From reading the wikipedia article, it seems like they had success in Australia but nothing much elsewhere. Limited success and limited influence doesn't amount to much. Can be said about a lot of album on the original list. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No. Nothing really interesting about this that isn't already on the original list.

Little bit of Van Morrison, little bit of Elvis Costello. Somehow avoids the dislike I have for both of those artists. Few good songs, but nothing incredibly standout. Favorite tracks: "Live Work And Play", "Don't Throw Stones", "Terror Hits"

It was delightfully varied, though none of the songs themselves were full marks from me. I've been more bored by better albums!

Good fun pop rock record

Didn't rock my world, fun new wave

Fun

Another Australian band I am not familiar with! This would be great pairing with a contemporary album: Don’t Throw Stones -> Glass Houses (Billy Joel, 1980) I enjoyed the first few songs the best, though it's pretty consistent throughout. The comparisons to other 70s bands started to enter my mind, uninvited, around side 2. Although based on the quality of the musicianship and lead singer, I prefer it to a few of the prior entries, for instance the Stranglers & Blockheads 3.5 HL: title track, "Thru the Window", "Suspicious Minds", "Tired of Me", "Big Sleep" April 1, 2025

New to me and enjoyable but not amazing. However I can see how if you grew up listening to this group you could have a huge soft spot for this album.

It was pretty good, I enjoyed it.

Mixed feelings about this one. At the same time, it's a nice cover band of successful classic rock, and they also released it in 1979, so they are (?) a classic rock band. I'll go on the easy and rate it neutrally. Nice songs, but I won't remember them for such a long time.

Pretty decent Power-Pop(ish?) collection of songs. Enjoyed it more as the record went on and there’s some pretty great musicianship on this record. Vocally, I was reminded of Elvis Costello a bunch and my PTSD from his records on the main list might have kicked in a bit and impacted my enjoyment. As a form of recompense to the user who submitted this album for letting that sully my rating, I have a song recommendation that I think you might enjoy: “Starry Eyes” by The Records (the version on the Power Pop Heroes compilation is the one to listen to).

Had never heard of them before. It was an enjoyable listen.

The name immediately reminded me of Huey Lewis and the news. The sound isn't terribly far off from that.

Fine

As other people have said, very reminiscent of other bands of the 80s, but that’s not a bad thing.

It’s so distracting to have a Joe Jackson-sound-a-like lead singer. Not a bad-sounding band otherwise and new to me.

Jangly New Wave that resembles Elvis Costello but more chill. It's less adventurous with a focus on catchy melodies. Produced well and inoffensive, with a few highlights in the first half. Plenty of weak songs in the latter half that offer no more than a gimmick to stand out. Favorites: Suspicious Minds, Don't Throw Stones, Thru the Window

This album had all the makings to be great but it really felt incredibly average. The instrumentals were fun and upbeat but also very timid. The lyrics were pretty uneventful and the songs that were catchy made little sense. Overall it failed to stand out. Was nothing special to me. 5.5/10

It's a ballsy move for a MOR soft rock album to have an opening track titled 'Suspicious Minds'. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: Who Listens to the Radio Date listened: 19/09/24

Yeah whatever. Seen it a million times by now

Harmless

Fine I guess

Don't Throw Stones is just super generic radio pop/easy listening stuff, like Elvis Costello but somehow even more bland? 2/5.

It’s definitely got Elvis Costello vibes to it and I appreciate that. The title track bops a bit and I like the lead singer’s authentic delivery. I had never heard of this band or their songs before - it just never made the jump to America, I guess. It would scratch an imaginary itch. How’s that?

This album makes me want to throw stones at it.

Just kind of standard rock, with a bit of new wave sensibility creeping in. Sorta the general sound of 1979 distilled into 40 minutes. I dunno that this has brought much new or interesting to my life

Didn’t care for the first song at all but I enjoyed it a bit more as it went along. A lot of other reviewers have compared it to Elvis Costello and… yeah it sounds just like Costello, other than a couple of songs where the singer just does a bad Jagger impression. I enjoyed the quirky rhythms of the title track and Who Listens to the Radio was a very catchy and well written song, but everything else just felt like a less good version of other songs I’ve heard before

Aussie new wave band that feels a bit Elvis Costello/ Nick Lowe. Nothing really stands out for me.

Don't throw stones? Too late, I'm afraid. I have already decided to give a somewhat middling grade to this cheap secondhand version of that Elvis Costello / Nick Lowe / Graham Parker /Joe Jackson late-seventies / early-eighties trade. While most songs go from meat-and-potatoes to decent (or even good for a couple of them), there are also two or three tracks that are unbearably grating. And when the latter are the most memorable ones (example: "Who Listens To The Radio?"), you clearly want to shout... "next, please!". ---- 2/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 7/10 for more general purposes (5 + 2) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 57 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 76 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 138 (including this one) --- Émile. Ça y est, j'ai *enfin* répondu (en deux temps). Tu trouveras ça sous les reviews des disques de Blackalicious et Alexisonfire au dessus.