The Suburbs

Back in April, I was at the CHIRP Record Fair and I came across a piece of vinyl by a band called the Suburbs. They looked like a skinny tie band, so I investigated the record further, only to discover that they were on the Twin/Tone Label. Being a fan of Minneapolis bands, I decided that I would risk the two bucks and picked it up. When I listened to it, what I found, instead of arena pop, I found a very quirky new wave/power pop band with some very strong roots in the punk rock scene.

The guitars had a certain Gang of Four style, but cleaner and more precise, almost calculated (in a good way, if that makes any sense). There were some exceptionally phenomenal synthesizers and a saxophone, making this a meeting place somewhere between the previously mentioned Gang of Four and a precursor to the Psychedelic Furs.

While the UK was trying to figure out what to do after Joy Division's demise, Minneapolis had really figured it out. Clearly influenced by David Bowie, these Midwesterners managed to take the sound of David Bowie's Lodger album, Americanize it, strip the pretense that came with the Brian Eno production and make it all feel very honest.

I haven't explored any of their other records, but I did recently pick up the collection Ladies and Gentlemen, the Suburbs Have Left the Building. An excellent collection of songs from all of their albums, highlighting the best tracks on each record.
Twin/Tone hit the ball out of the park with this, giving me a really good idea where to go from here. It's nineteen tracks of weird pop songs that show the evolution of a band that somehow managed to slip through the New Wave cracks, entirely because of Geography.

If you happen to stumble across the first album, or this collection, I highly recommend them both as an addition to your New Wave library.