History remembers the Shirts, perhaps unfairly, as one of the second-string bands on the CBGB/Max's Kansas City axis in the late 1970s, but unlike Tuff Darts, the Miamis, or the Laughing Dogs, the Shirts lasted long enough to cut three albums during their heyday, and though 1980s Inner Sleeve (Shirts! Sleeve! It's a joke, son!) was a very different kettle of fish than their first two efforts, it was certainly an improvement over the eclectic but meandering Street Light Shine. Mike Thorne, who had produced the Shirts' first two alums, was out of the picture, and while John Palladino and George Wadenius didn't bring much personality to these sessions, this is the most straightforward album the Shirts ever made, bringing the band's pop songcraft into tight focus and clearing away the pseudo-prog gingerbread that had cluttered the landscape of Street Light Shine. The Shirts had been stripped down to a quintet by the time they went into the studio for Inner Sleeve (at one time there were nine musicians in the group) and the sessions sound like a band playing live with minimal fuss, though Annie Golden's lead vocals display a lot more gloss than before, as if someone on the project thought she had the potential to be the next Pat Benatar (thankfully, the Ronnie Spector influences of her best music still dominate). And the pop side of the Shirts carries the day on Inner Sleeve, with Time (Has Seen Me Lonely), Too Much Trouble, and I Don't Wanna Know ranking with their best would-be singles (and if Pleasure Is the Pain sounds a bit cheesy, it also sounds like the radio hit this band could have had if their label hadn't dropped the ball). The Shirts lost their record deal and broke up within a year of Inner Sleeve arriving in stores, but though it represents a somewhat compromised vision of the band, with their artier gestures left behind, it also sounds sharp and compelling, proving this band had something to say right up to the end. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

1		I'm Not One of Those
2		One Last Chance
3		Can't Get It Through My Head
4		I've Had It
5		I Don't Wanna Know
6		Pleasure Is the Pain
7		As Long as the Laughter Lasts
8		Too Much Trouble
9		Hanging Around
10		Small Talk

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