Left: The 80s lovin' Ladyhawke
The glorification of the 1980s music scene in its many stripes - from lime green, through pastels and scuffed monotones - continues apace.
Having already enjoyed a considerable 'comeback'in the early 2000s, it seems that, far from waning, our fascination with electro pop, goth rock, and baggy beats is reaching its very apex. Acts like Ladyhawke, La Roux and White Lies are the most popular, 'coolest' new kids on the block - all of whom wear their 'me' decade references proudly on their rolled up suit sleeves. Ultra-mainstream sensitive piano balladeers Keane have ditched the dewy eyed Steinway stylings and embraced the great synth funk sugar rush of Scritti Politti and King; and 1988's 'second summer of love', which produced a slew of acid house chart hits in the UK, is echoed in the revivalist thump of The Juan MacLean's piano fixated 'Happy House', and Kikumoto Allstars 'House Music'. But what does it all mean?
It's clear that trends in the world of music are cyclical. Back in 2001, The Strokes caused a sea change in listener attitudes with the release of their debut album 'Is This It?'
Championed by the NME, here was a band who were taking it back to basics - really, recycling Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman, Television and all the NYC touchstones into an easily palatable, shiny, and crucially really very strong package - returning to the 'authentic' ideals of rock which dance music, their great fear, had quelled for so long. Legions of copyist acts, and other self proclaimed traditionalists emerged from the woodwork, and dance was of course proclaimed dead. Quite simply, it seemed that electronics were out of vogue. The Strokes, White Stripes, et al, were simply looking further back, to certain touchstones from the PREVIOUS decade, the 70s rich loam of proto-punk, megalithic blues rock, and new wave. Briefly, the stargazing, brave new future visions of electro progenitors Kraftwerk, and pop prodigies The Human League, with their synths will solve everything attitude, were forgotten.
But at the same time that The Strokes were emerging, the underground electroclash scene was in its embryonic stages. At a time that referencing the throb of 80s rhythms was laughable to many, a rag-tag collective of artists shrugged and threw themselves into recreating the delirious thrill of simple melodies, rendered with old skool synths,but crucially, on their terms. Check out Miss Kittin and Golden Boy's deceptively bittersweet 'Rippin Kittin', it's disturbing lyrics at odds with the jaunty, melancholy tinged song:
Or the tongue in cheek '1982':
Neither were ever released with the commercial market in mind, and coming from the dance scene, were unlikely to have an impact beyond the club crowd, considering their release dates, (2001 and 1999 respectively). But with the UK music scene in particular tired with rock once again, and looking to electronics for their thrill, the 80s-obsessed types have pounced, with a considerably more wide ranging market in mind.
It's likely to be a generational factor that has determined this shift. The 70s seemed such a pull for so long, it was only a matter of time before we succumbed to the subsequent decade. The difference now is that perceived 'fashion mistakes' both sartorially and otherwise - can be seen through a lens no longer obfuscated by irony. Kids who grew up in the 80s and had its music indelibly wired into the mainframes are now returning to it, and tired of the endless nostalgia bandwagon and radio repeats, are now recasting it in their own images. It's perhaps Stuart Price who's had the last laugh. The Reading producer and songwriter - initally ridiculed by many for his 80s indebted acts Les Rhythmes Digitales and Zoot Woman, is now producing for Keane and Madonna.
That was then. The below is now.
Now that's ironic.
