#144
April 18 1980
The Passions
Michael & Miranda
Genre: Indie New Wave
4 out of 5
Highlights:
Pedal Fury
Snow
Love Song
If we went even further backward I wonder if we would discover exactly where this sound began. It’s minimalist, awkward, with hard angles and, this is key, led by a female vocalist.
Pam Windo started off this year and we’ve heard Peal E. Gates. Deborah Iyall is on the horizon with Romeo Void. The Bangles, The Go-Gos, Siouxie, and others. This isn’t even mentioning Pat or Chryssie. I’m not sure if the women of New Wave get their due in the history books.
Barbara Gogan with her plaintive mid-range voice (is she an alto? I think that’s what this is) that is so prevalent in this style.
The band is actually on point, pushing the bass to the front and letting Claire Bidwell do her thing, alternating with the rhythm guitar as to who is keeping the beat with the drums. It’s all of a lovely push and pull that, for me, is exemplified on “Snow” and is also what keeps this band from finding it’s “hit”. I don’t think they care about it, truthfully.
This is art-rock that calls to mind the aforementioned Romeo Void as well as Marine Girls. They really have one basic idea and it can get monotonous but if I toss a few of these on a New Wave Playlist, I’d be happy when they came up.
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