Any modern musicians that will export my head to the 1984-1988 college station underground? I’m looking for some newer music that will transport and transmute me to my Psyhchedelic Furry, Doctor and the Medics luvin’, Bunnyman echoing, REM hippiffied, 88.7 Windsor-Detroit, mirrored John Lennon sunglasses, leather wearing, underage drinking at BGSU, self.
I really like Coheed and Cambria and believe that they are, in some weird way, true to that 80’s spirit of music. Zeke is also a band that makes me nostalgic in some weird ghost of the 80’s way… what are some of your picks?
Rio by Duran Duran always reminds me of the '80’s.
But seriously, Louis XIV’s “Finding Out True Love is Blind” has kind of an 80’s sound. I don’t listen to current music much, and the only reason I’ve heard it is because it’s the only song on the soundtrack for MVP 2005 (video game) that I can mildly tolerate. I saw them on Conan, and they seem to be going for an 80’s look too.
Yea, just saw The Bravery’s video. I thought it was U2 when I first heard them, I thought Bono had maybe started a new band as a side-project. or something. Great video though, very synchronistic.
I have some Killers tunes in rotation but I prefer Modest Mouse over Franz Ferdinand.
Interpol, The Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead…
Oh, I know one you might really like: British Sea Power.
The Shins sound a little like classic power-pop, but modern at the same time.
New Order recently released a new album. It’s good, too. Echo and the Bunnymen have also been putting out albums within the last few years. They’re not bad, either.
The Church released an album last year, which I have. It’s good, but they’re a bit mellow for me. Peter Murphy released an album recently, though I haven’t heard it.
I’m sure you’ve heard about Morrissey’s latest music.
There’s even more great 80’s bands that have put out new albums. I’ll keep listing if you want.
Starlight Mints – The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of (2000). Very poppy, instrumentally varied, carefully produced 80’s-style orchestral pop, led by a frontman who’s clearly imitating the Pixies’ Frank Black. They made a second LP but I don’t have it, so no rec of that one from me. Allmusic gave both LPs three stars, FWIW. If you miss Pixies and mid-period XTC, and always wondered what they might sound like mashed together, you might like the 'Mints. Bis was (they disbanded in '02) a hyperactive, precocious Scottish trio that started releasing albums in 1997, when their average age was 20. Obsessed with anime and the “Hello Kitty” side of Japanese junk culture, skateboarding, fast food, cheesy science fiction movies, and Quentin Tarentino, Bis, who went by the noms-de-plume of “Manda Rin,” “John Disco,” and “Sci-fi Steven,” could almost have been engineered by an ad agency as a stealth advert for Ritalin. They’d have been utterly despicable if their naive, toy-instrument brand of pop-punk wasn’t so much fun to listen to. The production style is… loud. (This ain’t subtle stuff.) As for recommended picks, you probably can’t go wrong – or, arguably, right – with any of their releases. If you like Bis, you might like the early B-52’s, the Japanese pastiche artist Cornelius, or junior high school. Alfie (several albums). Lovely, well-crafted pop, often with acoustic leanings, and frequently indulging in instrumentals. Alfie reminds me of the 80’s bands that had fun with '60’s psychedelic revival, just as 80’s-style synth-driven pop was reaching its creative nadir – after New Wave, but before the advent of 90’s grunge. Allmusic has Alfie pegged as “neo-psychedelia,” but it might be just as accurate to call them “retro-psychedelia redux,” or “neo-retro-psychedelia,” or somesuch. If you like Alfie, you’d probably also like Gomez (their debut’s probably their best).
