July 27, 2005

VHS Or Beta : Night On Fire

It’s official! The ’80s soundalike competition is over

For months now, the pop kids have striven to recreate the sound of the ’80s. A time when John Hughes comedies filled cinemas to the rafters and nothing was so stylish as a voluminous trouser leg billowing out the top of an extravagant boot. Well, the bets are off, because VOB have done it with this faintly ridiculous, note-perfect slice of white Heaven 17-style funk, with a vocal that is pure Roland Orzabal and dangerously choppy guitars. It even has a slap-bass interlude in it! SLAP-BASS! For all its period details (those skittering drums! That bit where everyone joins in on the chorus!) there’s a good song never far from the surface, which is where other ’80s revivalists tend to go arse over. The Carlos D and Tommie Sunshine remixes don’t add much to the stew, but remixes never do.

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