Now Playing: The B52s
During the eighties I found most American "rock" to be nearly unlistenable. I did like Steely Dan and Little Feat, but they were both defunct by the time I cottoned onto them. I did like Husker Du, but they were on the verge of finishing. REM were interesting, but I didn't really warm to them until Green (which isn't to say I didn't go back and get into the earlier albums; I just wasn't ready for them at the time).
But one ray of sunshine, for me at least, lay in the B52s - here was clever, modern sounding music that pulled off the difficult trick of not taking itself too seriously, yet which was at the same time capable of being sad and funny and exciting. I loved Bouncing off the Satellites, and pounced on Cosmic Thing as soon as it was released. The B52s went on to score a number of big hits from that album, and for a little they were public property. Yet by the time they made a follow-up album, 1992's fantastic and underrated Good Stuff, you sensed that interest had rather moved on. I never stopped liking them, but as the years went by, it seemed increasingly unlikely that the band would record another album. Never write off a good act, though - even though 16 years is enough of a gap to make The Blue Nile look prolific - because the B52s have returned with a scorchingly good record, Funplex, that sounds more or less as if it was recorded fifteen minutes after the last one. And I mean that in a good way. Fred sounds exactly like Fred; Keith plays some phenomenal guitar, Kate's voice is as great as ever and - as if it couldn't get any better - Cindy is now back in the line-up.
I think they tend to be written off as something of a bouncy, happy-go-lucky novelty act, but - if you can be bothered to pay attention, and look beyond the campy titles - there's an awful lot more going on. I just hope we don't have to wait another 16 years for the next one.
