At last it’s the 1980’s again. Been a long time coming but now it’s back.
Been a few false dawns along the way. First there was the futile attempt by the Melody Maker to launch Romo much to the hilarity of their readership. Then little hints of 80’s magic crystalising around the fringes of disco – Les Rhythmes Digitales, Mirwais – which tragically got sucked into the vortex of Madonna’s leotard. And then there was Electroclash, where Fischerspooner briefly seemed like the next big thing until everyone bought their album only to discover they were one-hit wonders where the one hit wasn’t actually a hit.
But now, at last, plinky plonk synthesizers are all over the charts like a rash. My favourite is La Roux. They are best, that is official, in years to come when researchers are putting together montages to illustrate 2009 as part of some future ‘Rock And Roll Years’ the soundtrack will be ‘Bulletproof’. Over, oh, a clip of that house for ducks, surely the defining image of the year.
Doomed to historical footnoteage, in my estimation at least, are Lady Gaga, Little Boots, Florence And The Machine, Empire Of The Sun. Of course they’re all riding Goldfrapp’s glittery cape-tails. You have to feel sorry for poor Client who have been doing the early 80’s thing for aaages but who suffer the unfortunate musical handicap of being mind-numbingly tedious.
Now that La Roux is basically taking a cover of Yazoo’s ‘Don’t Go’ to number one, and The Saturdays are coquettishly arse-wiggling their way through Vince Clarke’s back catalogue surely a critical re-appraisal of the genius of Erasure cannot be far off? Then I won’t be the only one who knows that ‘Chorus’ is the greatest album of all time...
