Dirk Wears White Sox
Artist: Adam & the Ants

The original Ants lineup released only one LP, Dirk Wears White Sox for Do It in 1979. The album finds a young Adam Ant exploring the sometimes-awkward fusion of punk, glam, and minimalist post-punk with bizarre images and disturbing tales of alienation, sex, and brutality. And while the somewhat pretentious, overly arty lyrics and inexperienced... Read More

Dizrhythmia
Artist: Split Enz

Dizrhythmia marks a change not only in personnel (half of the band had been replaced) but also musically and lyrically. With Tim Finn taking over the band, gone almost entirely are the neo-classical arrangements and abstract imagery in favor of a more direct approach that draws heavily from British Invasion-era pop as well as incorporating... Read More

Mondo Deco
Artist: Quick

Earle Mankey worked with Sparks and the Dickies, and the type of understanding necessary to translate sounds from those experimental groups is a plus on Mondo Deco, from the original Quick. As with the other major Kim Fowley and Mankey discovery, the Runaways, this band was released on Mercury in 1976, and it is one of the best examples of fun... Read More

Tent
Artist: Nits

When Dutch new wavers the Nits released their self-titled debut album in 1978 on an independent label, no one would have predicted that they would become one of the most exciting bands in modern music. Signing to CBS and releasing their second album Tent in 1979, the band took a huge step forward in dynamics, arrangement, imagination, and... Read More

L.A. Explosion
Artist: The Last

Perhaps the least known of the late-'70s L.A. pop acts, the Last rose from the ashes of the Los Angeles club scene alongside bands like 20/20, the Knack, the Nerves, the Plimsouls, et al. Releasing their debut album on a small, albeit influential, indie label didn't help them gain exposure outside of California, but the music contained on this... Read More

Frenzy - AUSTRALIA
Artist: Split Enz

Although often thought of as a transitional album, Frenzy shows the band in top form. Produced in England on a diminished budget, the album showcases pure pop with a hungry edge. "I See Red," added after the initial pressing, became a moderate hit in Australia and New Zealand, allowing the band the financial freedom to follow up with the... Read More

True Colours
Artist: Split Enz

Split Enz found their place in new wave with True Colours, shedding the eccentricities and excesses of their past in favor of bright, highly memorable, Beatlesque pop. The album also marked Neil Finn's emergence as a great songcraftsman -- his infectious "I Got You" helped to push the album and the band to international success. Both the single... Read More

Machine Gun Etiquette
Artist: The Damned
Community Score: 9.21

Rejoining forces without James, who pursued his own interests from then on (only hooking up with the band again for a late-'80s "farewell" show), the remaining three brought in young Saints veteran Ward on bass, recorded an album, and hoped for the best. That best proved much better than expected; while singles ended up on the charts, Etiquette... Read More

Plastic Letters
Artist: Blondie
Community Score: 8.08

In artistic terms, Plastic Letters, Blondie's second album, was a classic example of the sophomore slump. If their debut, Blondie, was a precise update of the early-'60s girl group sound, delivered with an ironic, '70s sensibility, its follow-up seemed to consist of leftovers, the songwriting never emerging from obscurity and pedestrian musical... Read More

Blondie
Artist: Blondie
Community Score: 7.86

If new wave was about reconfiguring and recontextualizing simple pop/rock forms of the '50s and '60s in new, ironic, and aggressive ways, then Blondie, which took the girl group style of the early and mid-'60s and added a '70s archness, fit right in. True punksters may have deplored the group early on (they never had the hip cachet of Talking... Read More

The B-52's
Artist: The B-52's
Community Score: 7.97
Drums and Wires
Artist: XTC
Community Score: 9.10

Following Go 2, keyboardist Barry Andrews left XTC and, rather than finding a replacement keyboard player, the band opted to recruit another guitarist (who could also play keyboards), Dave Gregory. The album that followed the lineup change, Drums and Wires, marks a turning point for the band, with a more subdued set of songs that reflect an... Read More