Denying the Nineties with Fascination

Thanks to the recommendation of a close friend (you know who you are), I found myself this past Thursday at the Betsey Trotwood listening to a band's debut performance. The show was about an hour. Every song delivery solid. The audience of mostly mid-thirties Londoners bopped about with glee, with everybody appearing to be really glad to relive some very fun memories.

Free one inch badges were on hand too.

The band, called Fascination, is a two-piece: a vocalist and a chap behind a synth with a laptop. The sound? Pure Eighties (on their MySpace profile, they list "The B-52's, Madonna, Blondie, Tom Tom Club, Duran Duran, and Roxy Music" among their influences). The influence of Duran Duran and Roxy Music was especially evident to my ears. However, Fascination has a much heavier synth/electro-pop sound (Human League and Missing Persons come to mind). Lyrics are refreshingly vapid and fun. For example, according to the song Topshop Radio, here is Fascination's take on success:

I'd never dream that we made it until some teenage girl is trying on clothes to our sound ... taking off clothes to our sound.

Click here to visit Fascination's MySpace profile, where future gig dates will be listed and four songs are available for your listening pleasure.