Culture Club

Following in the footsteps of such bands as Haircut One Hundred and ABC, Culture Club's
sound is spry and romantic. What sets them apart musically is their seamless blending of
salsa, dub and calypso with good old blue-eyed soul. With steel drums, timbales and
bullfight horns brightening the tunes, Kissing to be Clever positively jumps, from the
pleasure-seeking masochism of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" to the fearful s... More >

A lot of new English bands I wish were even worse than they are--every time Haircut 100 or Depeche Mode finds a riff or a groove it means they may last longer than the fifteen months allotted by the march of fashion. This new English band I wish were better, because for all their fashionability I think their hearts are in the right place--they look so weird because that's the way they feel. They do come up with catchy tunes, too. But their bland Caribbean rhythms move no muscles, and their confrontations with racial issues are rarely more than a phrase deep. (Grade: B)