Zack: Everything I knew about this album beforehand
suggested to me that I would hate it. It’s a New Wave album. The band name
sounds like the sort of thing a shitty band from the early 80s would think is a
good name. And “Pelican West” is just two words mashed together randomly. I was
ready to hate this album. But, much to my anti-dismay (just may?), it turns out
that Pelican West is really good. Haircut One Hundred (seriously, that name is
almost impossibly dumb) have a knack for mixing in enough jazz to offset the
80s cheesiness. It’s all the poppy danceability that the best New Wave singles
have without the inherent one-noteness that makes albums made up entirely of
those so boring 15 minutes in. Overall, the album itself was very fun and
really blew away every other album from this genre that we’ve listened to,
including the ones I didn’t totally hate like Duran Duran or A-ha.
Favorite Tracks: Kingsize (You’re My Little Steam Whistle);
Lemon Firebrigade; Love Plus One
Emily: Obviously I picked this album solely because of the band name. It's absolutely ridiculous and could only come from a British early-'80s New Wave band that wasn't particularly successful. Turns out that, although both British and '80s New Wave, Haircut One Hundred was a little more successful than I thought they were (even though they burned out pretty quickly). Seriously - Pelican West reached #2 in the UK and #31 on the Billboard 200. After listening to the album, I kinda get why. It seems like they would be bad imitators of the more prevalent artists of the day since both the band name and album title are a few notches short of making any sense. However, this album does something a little different by fusing the New Wave synths, bleeps, and bloops with jazz-funk. It's a combo that seems a little off, but somehow totally works. Turns out Haircut One Hundred has more going for them than just a silly name.
Favorite Tracks: Lemon Firebrigade; Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl); Love's Got Me in Triangles
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