A Few Underrated New Wave Albums You Should Check Out

Volume 13 | March 2026: Sam & I make new wave starter packs as a little treat.

Good morning!

Today Sam Colt and I are each sharing a few of our favorite new wave records.

We are so back.

Welcome to the latest installment of our (not so) new series! For those of you who may have missed previous editions, here’s a bit of context:

In this monthly series, Sam Colt and I will each share our picks for artists and/or titles that haven't received their due. You'll recognize Sam's name from our On Repeat and Friends Best of Series, as well as our Top 100 of all-time series last fall. These posts will adopt the latter's format; I will make my case for my three picks and my reaction to Sam's. Sam's page will do the reverse.

In the inaugural post, we noted that successive editions would narrow things down slightly. Maybe a specific genre…maybe a specific era…maybe a specific…well, who knows!

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Writing about new wave can get messy fast. The genre stretches far and wide, covering everything from art school post‑punk and synth pop to reggae‑inspired rhythm experiments and even a bit of glam. When Sam & I started putting this together, one of the main goals was to make it accessible—most will definitely recognize a track or two in here—but also novel. Finding a starting point that doesn’t scare (or annoy) people takes more thought than just listing the usual staples.

This list goes for something else. If the genres listed above were a Venn diagram, we were aiming for records that would land in the overlap—or at least close enough to the center that they make sense to newcomers, even while pointing in different directions.

Put another way, we wanted to find that balance between discovery and familiarity. A record might lean toward funk, another toward the mechanical side of early synths, another toward pop polish. Together, they show how wide new wave can sound without stepping into complete obscurity. Those talks are ones I love having, but they’re for another day.

When you’re done here, remember to check out Sam’s take at This Is a Newsletter!

Let’s get to it!

KA—

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Talking Heads- More Songs About Buildings and Food

I do not remember specifically where or when I got my first copy of More Songs About Buildings and Food. I can tell you I got my latest copy at an antique store near me that was going out of business. The building was demolished to make way for a new mixed-use apartment/retail complex. There’s a bank on the ground floor and plans on the books for a cafe— you know, buildings and food.

It was the first of three records they made with Brian Eno (4 if you want to count My Life in the Bush of Ghosts), and with each release, the grooves got progressively deeper, and the sound became less Television/CBGB-y and more World-beat-y. There are more complex arrangements. Things get more expansive and less wiry. This is an early rendering of what Eno would eventually help sculpt into the band’s archetypal sound. To my ear, that peaks with Reman In Light, but here, the band still has one foot in each camp.

More Songs isn't a "vibes" record, but you can't help but feel they were taking things more seriously at this point. If '77 felt like a class before the bell rang, this record feels like everyone is seated in class and ready to go, even if they're still snickering about something they heard in the hall.

Bottom Line: Following up a strong debut record with an even better second offering is often a struggle for bands. Nobody seems to have told Talking Heads about this rule. In a few years, there would be drama, but More Songs About Buildings And Food is a record full of electricity and excitement.

Sam’s Pick and My Take: Grace Jones- Nightclubbing

Until about an hour ago, I’d never heard this record in full. I thought for sure I had, but each track (save “Pull Up to the Bumper”) just reinforced that it was all new to me.

My main takeaway is being surprised at how clean it all sounds. For all the outrageous personality Jones has, her singing is very restrained. Sound-wise, the mix of funk, reggae, and disco makes it feel like a record from the future. It’s antiseptic and accessible all at once. No small feat! More importantly, you can hear its influence in all kinds of records/acts that followed. The cover of Demolition Man is not to be missed.

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The B52s-Wild Planet

Set aside “Roam” or even “Rock Lobster” for a second. For my money, “Give Me Back My Man” is the B52s’ best song. “Roam” feels very much of the time it came from. As for “Rock Lobster,” it’s a classic, but you can only get so much mileage from a novelty song.

“Give Me Back My Man” stands apart for a couple of reasons. First, it’s one of the first (and rare) times we see Cindy Wilson signing alone. Second, it’s kinda serious. This isn’t a band known for that. Wilson’s vocals and the deeper sound make for a compelling track, even if she can’t help but mention throwing Divinity in the sand. At almost right in the middle of the track order, it provides a good deal of ballast and offsets some of the record’s sillier moments.

It’s a great song on a record full of them. For those worried that the party had stopped, fear not— the record literally kicks off with the band sharing best practices for hosting a gathering (“Party Gone Out of Bounds”). There’s also plenty of the call-and-response vocals between Wilson/Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider that we’ve come to expect. Tracks like “Devil in My Car” and “Private Idaho” are just two. And while we’re at it, have any two voices ever paired as seamlessly as Wilson & Pierson’s? If they have, I haven’t heard it. There’s also just enough of the band’s trademark absurdity to make sure you won’t forget who you‘re listening to. This is the record where we learn the devil knows how to drive a stick. “Quiche Lorraine” really is about a lost poodle. Okay, then.

Sonically, the sound isn’t too far from the debut—the band picked the best parts from that record and brought them over. If nothing else, it’s much more cohesive. Guitarist Ricky Wilson’s unconventional tunings and playing style are on full display here. Is it surf? Garage? Rock? Yes, and it’s a dimension sorely lacking on the band’s later records.

For all the advances Wild Planet makes over its predecessor, it is, at its heart, a party record. There is no song you can’t dance to, and there are dozens of highlights. It’s a glorious hot mess and some of the most fun you can have in under 35 minutes.

Some of their subsequent records have lost their edge (or never had one to lose). 46 years on, Wild Planet sounds as sharp as ever. Need proof? Throw it on at your next gathering and see what happens. Just remember to be tactful while making the rounds.
(note: an earlier version of this review first appeared here. )

Sam’s Pick and My Take: Tears for Fears-Songs From the Big Chair

Getting old is rough. Every once in a while, society likes to remind me that I’m screaming toward middle age. Maybe it’s a song I really like being played on the oldies station….or worse, at the grocery store. I’ve mentioned loving a track at work, only to have a coworker respond with something like “oh yeah! I remember my mom playing this in the car when I was a kid!” (sigh). It’s…a lot. And now Fidelity is in the game, using “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” to peddle financial services to GenXers looking to plot the back 1/3 of their lives. But who could blame ‘em? It’s a catchy song, used intentionally. This was inescapable in the mid 80s. As a kid, I liked Songs From the Big Chair when it came out. I sang/chanted the chorus to “Shout” like everyone else. I thought “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” was great. I didn’t like “Head Over Heels.”

2 out of 3 ain’t bad. Fidelity knew what they were doing.

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The Waitresses- Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?

That The Waitresses are now filed under “one‑hit wonder” or novelty act is unfair. Give Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful a listen, and it’ll quickly become clear why.

The story for most people usually starts and stops with “I Know What Boys Like”, and maybe “Christmas Wrapping” (the best holiday song of all time, thankyouverymuch), which is a shame, as the band was never just one song and the album was never just a vehicle for it. Chris Butler, an Akron native who moved to New York before forming the group, wrote all the songs. His playing is central to the album, but it was his (very cynical) pen that really drives this record.

On paper, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? shouldn’t work as well as it does. The ingredients are a fidgety mix of pop, post‑punk, and ska, stitched together with jump‑cut song structures and the odd blast of discordant sax. Yet it locks into a very precise mood: nervous, urban, and slightly disheveled. The rhythm is tight and agitated—no jam bands in this genre!-helped by the presence of ex‑Television drummer Billy Ficca, whose playing keeps even the more skanking tracks from losing their way.

All well and good, but everything orbits around frontwoman Patty Donahue, who turns Butler’s lines into fully formed characters. Her delivery is half‑spoken, half‑sung, pitched somewhere between sardonic and world-weary. If an eye roll had a voice, it would sound like Donahue’s. Here, she flits between flirtatious, bored, and caustic, sometimes in the space of a single verse, and occasionally in the space of a single line. Plenty of new wave singers “did” irony as an act; Donahue sounds like she’s done this her whole life, and is already over it.

“I Know What Boys Like” is odd- and to my ear, that’s a large part of its popularity. It’s slow, and really never goes too far harmonically. But the hook lies in a weapons-grade repetition and attitude. Donahue goes all in on the role of the tease, toying with her suiters, then popping the bubble with a dismissive “Sucker.” The joke is not just on the boys in the song but on the culture at large.

As great as that song is, there’s more to this record than just “I know what boys like.” Like, a lot more. “No Guilt,” It’s My Car,” and the title track are all fantastic.

I don’t know what the 1982 equivalent of “unhinged” is, but “Heat Night” is it. It’s a little jittery, but also has the sort of call/response chorus that’s purpose-built for people to sing along to in the car, or in front of the mirror while getting ready.

Not everything lands. Even the best of us can only take so much ska, and the guitar occasionally grates. But that too is part of new wave; for every crisp white shirt and skinny tie, there was someone just a little messy. And the band seems to know exactly how far to take something before it becomes a drag.

Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? was the band’s first full LP and, by most accounts, their best. This was a band that (unfortunately) burned bright, but burned fast. The Waitresses released only two albums and two EPs; their other best-known tracks, “Christmas Wrapping” and the Square Pegs theme, are on the I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts EP. The album only reached 41 on the US charts. From there, history did what it often does: distilled the story down to one hit and a cult favorite seasonal novelty.

There would be no second chapter, no comeback, and no nostalgia tour. Donahue passed away from lung cancer in 1996, and no one was ever going to fill those shoes. Even a cover version of “I know what boys like” would sound weird (try it in your head and see!). There’s no way going forward as a band would’ve been viable.

But we have this record. Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful is on this list because it captures a literate, sarcastic, female-first side of new wave that doesn’t always show up on compilations or YouTube clips. It’s a little rough around the edges; there’s some sharp corners. It’s awkward in places, and utterly infectious.

Sam’s Pick and My Take: Depeche Mode- Violator

A bit of bar trivia: this record might be the current leader for most appearances in the series, having been one of my picks in our Top 100 series (it just missed making the cut on Sam’s list), and again this time last year in one of our earlier installments (“Music to Exercise to”).

In the top 100 series, I noted:

“Enjoy the Silence” is synth-pop perfection. “Personal Jesus” is impossibly catchy, as is “World In My Eyes.” Even deep cuts like “Sweetest Perfection” and “Blue Dress” are no skips. In a Venn diagram of new wave, synth-pop, and mainstream pop. Violator sits right in the middle.”

So is it new wave?

In a strict sense, you could make a case for one of their earlier releases being more new wave, but Violator definitely fits the bill, as it (IMO) represents a shift toward a broader sound. It’s also a record most people have at least heard of—or heard a few songs from— making it an easy on-ramp for someone trying to get into new wave.

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That’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? Share your thoughts in the comments! Rants, raves, and spicy takes are all welcome. And if you have any ideas on future themes, please share those as well! Don’t forget to check out Sam’s thoughts over at This Is a Newsletter!

Thanks for being here,

Kevin—

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Credit: Beth Spencer