Station To Station

Does It Offend You, Yeah?-You Have No Idea What You're Getting Into

 Does It Offend You, Yeah? is a Reading-based electro quartet whose debut long player, You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into, is a mish-mash of digitalized beats, Klaxons-esque nu-rave shouting, and distorted keyboards. The mix is familiar; there’s nothing here that the Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk haven’t done before. And there’s certainly nothing here that Justice or Simian Mobile Disco isn’t doing better now. Their name is self-parody and the album is beyond limp, but it’s just the sort of schlock that’ll sound good in a Guy Ritchie movie trailer. So, good on ‘em.

Grade: D+

Bauhaus-Go Away White

 Bauhaus weren’t around for very long the first time around, releasing four studio albums between 1980 and 1983. A few reunion tours appeared in the late 90s and mid-00’s to satiate the faithful, but only a soundtrack single and a live album marked those years. 2008’s Bauhaus reunion is even shorter. An album of first-takes recorded in two weeks, no tour, and a breakup is all we get. The album, Go Away White, is worth all the false starts and no-starts, however. The album is a churning mix of post-punk, early goth, and synth-pop. Front-man Peter Murphy still has a fantastic voice and the rest of the band (who also reunited their side project Love & Rockets recently) is in tip-top shape.

Grade: A-

The B-52's-Funplex

 Going into The B-52’s first album in sixteen years, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. What I got what a none-too-subtle update of the band’s signature new wave meets surf sound. Much like recent albums by contemporaries New Order and Duran Duran, Funplex retains a lot of the band’s original sound while glossing the whole thing with modern electronic sheen. It’s been a popular production method for the remaining bands of the new wave movement, and it’s hard to argue with. Funplex is an enjoyable album, if a little unoriginal and possibly even unnecessary.

Grade: C+