What an embarrassment. Two-and-a-half years ago I called Oingo Boingo "an extraordinary band . . . zany and often hilarious . . . an amazingly skillfull and inventive aggregation of musicians." Unfortunately, I didn't stop there, but encouraged record-company interest: "The Oingos, as yet unsigned by any label, is a band the whole world should hear."

Now the long-time fixture on the L.A. scene has released its debut album, and an explanation is in order.

Here goes. The current Oingos (who play the Country Club Friday and Saturday) bear scant resemblance to the Oingos I reviewed in early '79, even though by that time the group was well along in its transformation from theatrical-cabaret troupe to streamlined new wavers. The cast is pretty much the same: leader Danny Elfman and several skillful musicians, including an unorthodox horn section. That's about all that's the same, though.

Instead of those incredible Oingo songs of old-groundbreaking Elfman compositions like "Louise" and "I'm Afraid," which would meld zooming rock chords with influences as diverse as Cajun rhythms and Balinese textures—all we get on this mess is the crassest sort of new wave.

The track the band proudly leads off with is called "Little Girls," all about how much the singer loves little girls; the vapid lyrics are complemented by a simplistic "modern-music" melody and Elfman's imitation-Devo vocals.

The album retains this smugly clever tone throughout—including the one cover song, another indication of how desperately the group wants to avoid the pitfalls of originality: the Kinks' "You Really Got Me."

Suggested alternate title for the LP: "Only a Sell-Out."