RETURNING FROM A JOURNEY

1st Wave. Alternative rock's pioneering artists and sounds.

Gone Daddy Gone-- Violent Femmes
Dig that googly xylophone! A weird only-in-America conflation of sex, god, and adolescence, busked on a cold Milwaukee street corner.

Be Near Me-- ABC
Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC. Be Near Me, ABC...

Another Nail in My Heart-- Squeeze
The perfect Squeeze moment. It’s winsome but not maudlin, sharp but not snarky, with the ticky rhythm of a sewing machine. And I like the way it stands itself on its head by running straight into the bridge after the first verse/chorus.

Cities in Dust-- Siouxsie and the Banshees
And now those kooky Batcave kids are 40, and buying clothes that camouflage their spider-web tattoos…

Perfect Kiss-- New Order
The plain truth is that they could groove to wear a rut in steel, but there was not a guiding intelligence after Ian left. Here they recycle Blue Monday for the fifth time, and throw in some cheap aural puns (croaking frogs=kiss if death-- ha ha). And it works.

Doot Doot-- Freur
If memory serves, these guys morphed into Underworld of Born Slippy fame. Which makes perfect sense, since this is the same whooshy, echoey concoction, minus 50 or so bpm.

Brass in Pocket-- Pretenders
That brass is money. This probably would've hit No. 1 in America if it had been called I'm Special. Kind of like Train in Vain...

Everything Counts-- Depeche Mode
There are very few bands that I expend energy on actively detesting, but here's a rara avis. And then they go and make me laugh with stuff like “The holiday was fun-packed”...

Don't Stop the Dance-- Bryan Ferry
SAT time again. Don't Stop the Dance is to Bryan Ferry as ____________ is to David Bowie.

Modern Love-- David Bowie
See above.

Some obvious choices, though Freur was a nice touch. Could've done with some Books About UFOs or Wolfman Tap or Away or Make a Circuit with Me.

I'll give it a B.