Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Hard to Laugh	02:40
	2	Ten Fingers	02:52
	3	I'm an Adult Now	04:30
	4	She's So Young	03:36
	5	Consciousness Raising as a Social Tool	02:31
	6	Walking in the Woods	03:52

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Beautiful White	03:28
	2	When the Sky Comes Falling Down	03:28
	3	Looking for Girls	02:51
	4	Man's Best Friend	02:38
	5	Tree of Knowledge	03:53
	6	Killed by Love	04:04
	7	Down on Him	02:31

Photos

Videos

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Information/Write-up

Few debut albums hit the ground with the kind of punch, wit, and emotional clarity as Love Junk. Released in 1988, The Pursuit of Happiness’s first LP introduced Moe Berg’s sharp songwriting to a wider audience, and immediately set the band apart from the crowded late-'80s alternative rock scene. With legendary producer Todd Rundgren at the helm, Love Junk is a smart, hook-laden collection of power pop anthems that balances biting cynicism with heart-on-sleeve vulnerability.

At the center of the album is “I’m An Adult Now” — a song that first gained attention as an indie single in 1986 and was re-recorded here with more polish but no less punch. It captures the band's ethos: self-aware, slightly sarcastic, but emotionally grounded. Berg’s lyrics walk a fine line between bemused commentary and introspective confession, dissecting relationships, lust, loneliness, and the slow, dawning dread of adulthood.

The album benefits enormously from Rundgren’s production. Rather than overloading the songs with '80s studio gloss, he keeps the arrangements crisp and dynamic, allowing the band’s energy and harmonies to shine through. Tracks like “She’s So Young” and “Hard to Laugh” have anthemic choruses that feel tailor-made for late-night drives and college radio, while deeper cuts like “Walking in the Woods” and “Tree of Knowledge” reveal Berg’s underrated melodic depth.

Leslie Stanwyck’s harmonies bring added texture, often softening Berg’s sharp edges. Her vocals, especially on the aching ballad “Killed By Love”, add a layer of poignancy that offsets the album’s more acerbic moments. The rhythm section (Johnny Sinclair on bass and Dave Gilby on drums) gives the whole record a solid backbone, tightly propelling the brisk 11-song set.

What makes Love Junk endure is its directness. It’s emotionally honest without being overwrought, catchy without being cloying. It sits comfortably alongside the best of '80s jangle-pop and college rock, but with a distinct Canadian perspective and an edge that helped pave the way for the alternative boom of the early '90s.

Moe Berg: guitar, vocals
Leslie Stanwyck: vocals
Kris Abbott: guitar, vocals
Johnny Sinclair: bass
Dave Gilby: drums

Written by Moe Berg
Produced, engineered and mixed by Todd Rungren for Alchemedia Productions
Recorded at Utopia Sound
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound

Art direction by Peter Corriston
Album design by Marc Cozza
Photography by Brian Billinton

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