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John Hiatt: Two Bit Monsters (MCA 5123)

Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, August 1980

LAST YEAR'S most exciting newcomer returns with his fourth album, hoping to become an overnight sensation after ten years. Forgetting an early pair of weak albums, Slug Line established Hiatt's credentials as a big-league songwriter with acerbic, often cynical, vision and a wealth of bizarre personal experiences upon which to draw. A mix of reggae rhythms, rock attitudes and bluesy deliveries proved his breadth — from taut intensity to smooth romanticism.

Total word count of piece: 326

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