ABC

There are a million ways to say "I love you" in pop music, and Martin Fry, the singer and
leader of ABC, has managed to cram many of them onto this dazzling debut album. Fry, who
wears his heart on his silk shirt sleeve like a giant diamond cuff link, flashes a Phil
Spector-like armada of horns, synthesizers, strings, percussion and backup sirens as he
compiles a pumping disco dictionary of sordid B-movie romantic maneuvers and... More >

Since Bowie and Ferry sold surface in disguise back when they were supposedly saving rock and roll, I don't worry about this tribute band's lack of depth. Martin Fry's candid camp and ad-man phrasing don't fully justify his histrionic flights, but they do give him room to be clever, which is clearly his calling--some of these synthetic funk rhythms make me laugh out loud, and he's an ace jingle writer. "If that's the trash aesthetic I suggest that we forget it"? Not when your throwaways include bon mots like "looking for the girl who meets supply with demand." (Grade: A-)