You can through both Devo and The B-52’s together, not just because they’re playing a co-headline show. You can also do so because the alternative scene they helped create has been a great influence on the creatives who were arguably better than both bands. David Byrne and Jarvis Cocker cite The B-52’s as one of their great influences, and it’s their interpretation of a hopeful, space-age sound paired with elusive and often slippery lyrical form that has best served those influenced by the Rock Lobster hitmakers. Returning to the self-titled debut is a bit of a treat, and not just because Planet Claire has had a modern-day revival. An abstract volatility is what The B-52’s are working with here, which is enough to distance themselves from other art-rock groups of the time, artists they are, at the time of writing, set to perform across the UK with. What a strange thrill that will turn out to be, and what an album The B-52’s remains.
Where the instrumentals are a fascinating, fantastic experience, it’s the vocal work which may put people off of The B-52’s. Planet Claire has an instrumental which can survive without the driving around in a Plymouth Satellite. But it’s the context of the story of what occurs on this out-there planet that does, to some extent, matter. An outstanding opener even with that issue of vocal performance. It makes sense if us listeners are taking on the role of tourist in another world, but it’s hard to unlink the quality instrumentals with what feels like a slightly monotone but fitting vocal. 52 Girls as a follow-up is solid work, a little too reliant on the post-punk and new wave sounds, though when you have a song like Planet Claire as your opener, you can take a little break from innovating.
An understated song to follow the repetitive but good fun of 52 Girls is the highlight of The B-52’s sound here. Sure, Rock Lobster follows up Dance This Mess Around, but the staggered sound, the heartbreak yet to come, it works brilliantly. Party atmospheres are deconstructed by the lyrics yet engaged with by the instrumentals, a tremendously smart contrast which still stands firm today. Rock Lobster is the best-known of these self-titled album songs, and rightly so, to be fair. The B-52’s only works as well as your ability to suspend sanity can go. The disbelief The B-52’s work in is a treat for those who are willing to engage with it as a free-flowing, new wave experience. It’s when you get further than Lava that trouble brews, where patience begins to wear thin.
Much like Planet Claire and Rock Lobster, the best part of There’s a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon) relies on the instrumental depths more than anything else. Hero Worship, too, feels a bit too flat and straight-shooting. Considering what came before it, it blurs the punk noise of the past and trendy new wave sounds well, though has very little going for it apart from sounding catchy, just like the previous songs. A bit of dead weight but an interesting song nonetheless, strong vocal work from Cindy Wilson. A fantastic voice which has that same, sharp range and punchiness as Debbie Harry. The trendsetters of the time had much in common with one another when it came to their vocal strengths, though not so much when meaning and message was concerned. The B-52’s is still an experience worth having, an essential of those early years of new wave sounds, though the likes of 6060-842 shine a light on the repetitive, shallow sound the genre would be overwhelmed with.
