Classix Nouveaux — The Liberty Singles Collection

Classix Nouveaux where a British 80’s pop band that grew from ashes of the shambling, yet charming punk rock project X-Ray Spex. Classic Nouveaux were a much more slick yet still fun bound project than X-ray & they mixed together more commercial post-punk edges with snyth pop & a new romantic spirit.

This compilation brings together all the bands singles that appeared on the Liberty label  between 1980 & 1983. Featured here are both the A and B sides of each single, which gives you a nice balance between the bands more commercial side, and their more quirky/ experimental sides.  In the bands life time they had hits in the uk, Poland, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Israel, Iceland and the USA, and of course all of those are feature here along with less successful singles. I guess their sound is best described as geeky, flamboyant, with often a tongue in cheek/ fun edge to proceeding with their  leade singer Sal Salo(see what I mean about tongue in cheek!) voice going from bopping and geeky, to deep & sometime  almost goth  like moments. His voice is mixed with male/female backing vocals with a musical backing of pulsing electro drums, synth pumps, and often quite a pronounced use of colder/ atmospheric guitar textures.

The whole collection is often highly memorable, quite theatrical and more than a little quirky. And through some songs do have slightly more experimental edges, really they were a pop band at heart. So in summing this is a worthwhile look back at one of the more quirky and flamboyant bands of the 1980’s, and it will certainly be of interest for those enjoying the more theatrical/ playful side of the recent revival in all things sythn pop wise.