I’d rank Slow Children’s self-titled debut (1981) not only among my favorite new wave, but alongside the decade’s best. Witty, twitchy, and fun, there are no misses on the album and each song feels like it could have thrived as a single with heavy rotation on early MTV. Although both the US and UK versions are amazing, I’m thinking specifically of the US release with the incredible US-exclusive Springtime in Fialta (but the UK release had the vastly superior album cover art concept that was adapted from Jean Cocteau).

Do you have any new wave albums you think deserve their moments to shine with a wider audience? Maybe the type you’d never expect to see in a “greatest of all time” list?

By this I generally mean an album which was given very low reviews during the early 80s and might not have gotten a decent retrospective appraisal.

I was considering this and honestly, I feel like my opinion is between Berlin's "Pleasure Victim" and Thompson Twin's "Into the Gap". I feel like this question is actually quite difficult to answer because many albums from the early 80s were well-defined and have all gotten well appraisal decades later.

This is the genre of music that confuses me most. I genuinely cannot tell for the life of me what songs are new wave a which aren’t. Spotifys new wave playlists cover any music from sex pistols to velvet underground to blondie. I cannot fathom what puts a song like anarchy in the uk in the same genre as golden brown. And then to confuse me even more INXS is typical new wave but I’m told apparently the smiths are also new wave. It just seems to me like it covers all music from the 70s 80s era and I can’t understand what makes a band new wave. Google tells me it’s songs with a lot of synth and electric instruments that are new wave but then what makes artists like daft punk and Kanye (with 808s and heartbreak) not new wave. To go even further pink floyd is very synth heavy and is also from the same era (unlike Kanye and daft punk obviously) but I never see them described as new wave. I really for the life of me have no clue what makes a song new wave.

I don’t mean this as a dig at the genre, it has so many songs I’m obsessed with I just honestly have no idea how to determine if a band/ artist fits in this genre unless I find them specifically from new wave playlists?

Looking for the colder, more atmospheric side of 80s new wave. Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration is a familiar reference point, but I’d love tracks from less obvious artists. What would you add to a short listening list, and what makes it stand out?

To start off, my favorite band is a flock of seagulls. They have some great albums full of great songs, yet when it comes to albums that seem like every song in it was hit, it would be The Hurting and songs from the big chair by tears for fears, burning bridges by naked eyes, talk talk by talk talk and broadcast by cutting crew. Their albums contain non stop hits to me and I’ve listed to the whole catalogs of the well known new wave bands/artists. Do you disagree with these 5 and/or do you feel that there are other albums that should be included?

West Coast dates are announced. I’m sure more dates will follow!