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The B-52’s self-titled debut is one strange and colorful record, which should be fairly obvious by the Warhol-ish early-60s cover design and color palette. I imagine at the time songs about made-up dances and boogie dancing undersea life were very confusing, especially since exceedingly long, extremely pretentious rockers were hogging all of the airwaves. In fact, even given a New Wave context…these songs are still weird. Yes, the New Wave was all about merging dance, punk, and making a fashionable statement all at the same time, but none of them came out swinging with 50s sci-fi obsessions, b-movie story lines, and kewpie doll vocals. And a lot of the New Wavers were ironists. Blondie, ever the ironists, wanted to combine a punk aesthetic with 60s pop. But they could also perform a straight-up rocker when they wanted to. The B-52’s, closely related to Blondie but still vastly different, couldn’t keep their tongues out of their cheeks if their lives depended on it. But, let’s be honest, these songs are just fun. There isn’t a dull one in the bunch, and while, yes, they are exceedingly strange, it’s kitsch. Don’t over think it. Just play it loud and dance around. Even if it premiered in today’s context, of which we are ironic kitsch lovers, The B-52’s would still be one weird little dance album. And isn’t that why we love them? DOWNLOAD: “Dance This Mess Around”
