“Part of what made new wave so appealing-- at least, to those of us who were middle schoolers at the time-- was its earnestness. Of course, this is exactly the quality that makes most of it all but unlistenable 15 years later. So many of those bands were just so fucking serious about what they were doing, about their music and themselves. They didn't let up for a second. They just pouted away on 12”
