It’s The 20080’s!

…pronounced “The Two-Thousand-Eighties”

Tragedy plus time. That’s the oft-stated formula for comedy - one wonders how long after the Lincoln assassination it was finally okay for someone to actually joke about it from the stage of Ford’s Theater. Maybe never. But we have already seen jokes pop up, no matter how awkwardly or tentatively, about the events of September 11th 2001, or even such spinechilling examples of the depths of human nature as Columbine or Jeffrey Dahmer. It’s just how we humans defuse volatile subjects like that, make it okay to talk about. And then you get OJ, whose disarming tactics are (perhaps) second only to George W Bush, in that he’s let himself become such a banana-waving looking-for-the-real-killer joke that it’s easy to overlook that he most likely did actually get away with screaming bloody murder. Anyway, I’m straying greatly from my point. …And my point is thank God he’s so stupid and egotistical that he tempted fate once too often and fate gave in and said, “fine so you apparently want to go to jail for the rest of your life, here you go”.

No, that’s not my point at all. I was just using the “tragedy plus time” equation to apply to the sudden resurgence I’ve seen, especially this particular calendar year, of the “Eighties Sound”. So in order to spotlight this theme, I guess my pick for a year is… well, this year! In my (rather over-)extensive research to refine my 2008 “best-of” mix, I kept coming across brand new music that sounded like stuff from twenty years ago. You know what I mean, that new-wave post-punk atmosphere of synthesizers, drum machines, keytars, Aqua Net, day-glo, lyrics so light and airy they’re actually transparent if ever held up against the light of the question, “yeah what’s that Duran Duran song about anyway?” That kind of thing. And for some reason it’s really hit a peak this year, with songs that don’t just sound like they’re influenced by the sound of the Eighties, they actually sound like songs that were recorded in the Eighties! Let me show you what I mean:

1. Neon Neon, “I Told Her On Alderaan”
A long-lost track for “The Breakfast Club” soundtrack? A rare team-up between Men At Work and Animotion? I mean seriously, they’re using Roland Juno synth presets! This is a big honking chunk of “that rings a bell” nostalgia - almost everything about this song sounds like something you’d find on one of those fluorescent pink and green CD boxed sets with words like “Awesome!” and “Rad!” and “Totally!” on the cover. Luckily the song isn’t quite that grody to the max.

2. The Helio Sequence, “Keep Your Heads Ahead”
Second only to We Are Scientists’ “After Hours” (which appears in my 2008 best-of mix), this best exemplifies the continuing legacy of Modern English, The Cure and late Joy Division / early New Order. What’s old actually is new again, it seems.

3. CSS, “Believe Achieve”
One might be forgiven for humming “rush rush give me yayo” along with this. An even better example is the stuff The Epoxies have been putting out recently, sounding like Debbie Harry produced by Wendy & Lisa - but unfortunately they haven’t released anything this year.

4. Cut Copy, “Hearts On Fire (Midnight Juggernauts remix)”
A long-lost pre-”Violator” Depeche Mode song? Giorgio Moroder back from the (metaphorical) dead? This manages to summon up the spirit of two decades ago without venturing over the line into parody - a not-insignificant feat I fully appreciate and thoroughly enjoy. Somewhere Vince Clarke is leaning back with a big smile on his face. …Which I guess probably has much less to do with what Cut Copy is doing, and a lot more to do with what Andy Bell is doing…

5. The Gaslight Anthem, “The ‘59 Sound”
What do you call a throwback to a throwback? Well I guess in Cali they just call it “The Play”, but here in musical terms I’m referring to this song, representative of a few other new bands (Glasvegas, The Virgins, Delta Spirit) who seem to be channeling not the actual leather-jacketed greasers of the 1950s, but rather those in the 1980s who latched onto that feel faster than you could say Sha-Na-Na. You know, The Hooters, Stray Cats, Adam Ant, Billy Idol. “The Year Punk Broke… Down And Embraced Rockabilly”.

6. Cyndi Lauper, “Rain On Me”
There’s basically nothing here that exceeds the technology present on Bruce Hornsby & The Range’s “The Way It Is”: just a simple unchanging drum machine, synth piano/pad chords and squishy analog bass plucks, and voice. And that’s it. Sometimes if you write an engaging enough song, it’s all you need. I mean really when it comes to this kind of sound, everyone is worshiping at the altar of Vince Clarke anyway. He was one of the first to really embrace the somewhat detached and experimental (and yet as Afrika Bambaataa and so many others found, weirdly funky) klingklang sounds of Kraftwerk and just write lush pop love songs in that format. If you don’t know who Clarke is, he founded Depeche Mode (”Just Can’t Get Enough”), left almost immediately to form Yazoo (”Situation”) and then Erasure (”Chains Of Love”). There really aren’t many more people on this planet who have been more successful or prolific in the somewhat pigeonholed “white guy alone in a dark room surrounded by blinking lights” genre of music. But yeah, sometimes it’s pretty self-evident that even though a song is inextricably instrumentally tied to the sound of a decade (for example A-Ha’s “Take On Me” with its complete lack of any sound that doesn’t come out of a box), the inherent quality of songwriting might have made it a hit no matter when it was released. So while Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” is an obvious triumph of the metallic synthpop sound of the 1980’s, I do get the feeling it was probably written with Dave Stewart strumming chords on a guitar and Annie Lennox channeling the soulful riffs of Aretha Franklin. That the song has successfully been covered by multiple artists using varying instrumental formats only bolsters support for the underlying “good song no matter when” status of this classic. …I guess to hammer my point home, there’s probably not many out there working on their alt-rock version of “Somebody’s Watching Me” or a folky “Video Killed The Radio Star”. Some songs simply are a product of the bubblegum of its time, and they should enjoy their well-deserved and undeniable classic / camp legacy… And stop right there. I for one am glad Miss Lauper never did stop anywhere, as her scratchy poignant voice can still power a beautiful pop song like this. For those of us who were there to see her first steps into the music world, it’s encouraging to see she hasn’t lost a step over the years. These many many years…

Download: Neon Neon, “I Told Her On Alderaan” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Helio Sequence, “Keep Your Heads Ahead” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: CSS, “Believe Achieve” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Cut Copy, “Hearts On Fire (Midnight Juggernauts remix)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Gaslight Anthem, “The ‘59 Sound” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Cyndi Lauper, “Rain On Me” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)