The Top 5 UK Albums of 2008 - #1

By: Nicole Kai Kobilansky

Stainless Style by Neon Neon

DeLoreans were the epitome of “stainless” style in the ‘80s, one might say. What better way to bring back that retro gleam, then, than by composing a concept album about the obsolete style-sans-substance vehicle? So, it is presumed, went the thought process of Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals when they first decided to collaborate as Neon Neon. Bizarrely, this mad reinvention of the wheel has paid off in the best, back-to-the-future kind of way possible, producing an album replete with Duran Duran-worthy synth-pop hooks that blur the line between nostalgia and hipness.  

I accepted, after buying my first pair of acid wash jeans recently, that the ‘80s were going to keep sneaking back into ‘00s pop culture, and as long as they sound like this half-serious, half-ironic nugget of fluorescent gold, I will gladly participate.

Video: "I Lust U" by Neon Neon