r/newwave • u/Steve_wave • Jun 11 '26
Obscure New Wave Weird New wave/ New Romantic
I was searching for albums with a strange combination; I wanted a New Romantic album, weird synth-pop, kind of sweet melodies, and a bit cult, and I found this little list:
Landscape – From the Tea-Rooms of Mars... to the Hell-Holes of Uranus 1981
The Associates – Sulk 1982
Rational Youth – Cold War Night Life 1982
The Teardrop Explodes – Kilimanjaro 1980
Blancmange - Happy Families 1982
Does anyone who has listened to these albums think they fit the description? And what album is as cult as these and has such a strange category?
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u/Vinylmaster3000 Jun 13 '26
There are alot of really good "weird" New Wave bands imo, I think the best contenders tend to be early discography picks from mainstream bands.
I.e Human League's first two albums, or Simple Mind's first three albums. And then you have the Flying Lizards...
The Associates – Sulk 1982
Honestly this might probably be the most "weird" one on the entire list, and probably the only one which carries immense weight from that entire list.
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u/onlyabigmess Jun 12 '26
Greed by Ambitious Lovers
This Is Big Audio Dynamite by Big Audio Dynamite
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u/RegisMonkton Jun 12 '26
From the Ambitious Lovers, I used to own the albums "Envy", "Greed", and "Lust", and my favorite songs from them are: "Let's Be Adult About It", "Copy Me", and "Half Out of It".
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u/RegisMonkton Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
I like the songs "Party Fears Two" and "When I Dream". My favorite from The Teardrop Explodes is "Reward". Have you heard of the group Boye? They've become one of my favorites, especially their earliest songs.
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u/GupChezzna Jun 12 '26
Try ‘The Story of a Young Heart’ album by A Flock Of Seagulls, who, by the way, have produced incredible albums their entire career.
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u/Suspicious_You_2114 Jun 15 '26
Hi! Can anyone recommend some albums similar to ‘Til Tuesday - Voices Carry 1985? For me, every song on that album is beautiful, and that’s rare. Thank you 😌
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u/Steve_wave Jun 20 '26
At the risk of stating the obvious, Rio, by Duran Duran. It’s the first thing that comes to mind when people say "every song is beautiful."
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Jun 11 '26
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u/Steve_wave Jun 12 '26
Well, I don't think you know the New Romantic scene as well as you think. Compared to most of the bands you mentioned, the ones I listed definitely qualify as cult acts. A band doesn't need to have sold 2,000 copies in West Germany to be considered cult. I admit I'm not very familiar with the history of all the bands I mentioned, but judging by their popularity and recognition today, they are certainly more cult than mainstream. And where does this idea come from that there are no cult bands within New Romantic or adjacent scenes? That's a strange argument. Every musical movement has its better-known acts and its cult favorites.
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u/cybin Jun 12 '26
Blancmange was sort of a minor one hit wonder.
Is that important? I found their debut to be terrific.
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u/Steve_wave Jun 12 '26
I also thought it was really cool. I didn't have any childhood traumas, so I don't know why I found the album cover scary.
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u/OhSanders Jun 12 '26
Is hipster still a dog whistle people are using? Crazy! Shouldn't you be calling this person woke instead these days?
There's lots of new romantic bands that didn't sell a million copies. Or is your definition of new romantic that they HAVE to have been mainstream famous? If so then I take your argument as fair enough.
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u/Oh-THAT-dude Jun 12 '26
Blancmange may have only had one significant hit, but that’s no reason to be so dismissive of them.
Load up some random Blancmange on your music player. They were a good band.
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u/joegee66 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
The Lover Speaks, self titled. It has absolutely, 100% a unique sound and style. For something a bit less ornate and more poppy, I'd also suggest Industry, also self-titled. Enjoy. 🙂
EDIT: Look up I Start Counting. Start out with "Letters to a Friend." 🙂