Awesome New Wave

The remaining members of the influential new wave band DEVO are still going strong. Instead of playing the usual hits, their NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert features four lesser-known tracks, including some they haven’t played live in more than 40 years. The set list: It Takes a Worried Man, Blockhead, Praying Hands, and Come Back Jonee.

One of the biggest bands of the 1980s new wave movement is back with their first new material in almost 30 years. Led by a decidedly less coiffed Mike Score, A Flock of Seagulls’ 2024 track Some Dreams is a return to form with a catchy mix of retro synth and driving guitar rhythms. There’s a special orchestral version on August Day’s Orchestral Eighties CD box set.

Musician Seb Skelly turns The Human League’s 1981 new wave hit Don’t You Want Me? into a jazz tune, performing all five parts of his arrangement for brass quintet. We sort of miss the synthesizers, but Seb’s version is pretty great too.

Back in 2013, Puddles Pity Party burst onto the scene with toned-down cover version of Lorde’s hit Royals he did with Postmodern Jukebox. Now, our favorite singing clown has returned to the well with a playful new wave arrangement of the track. Seriously, it sounds like it was produced by Ric Ocasek for a Cars album.

This hilariously weird clip of bats set to techno reminds us of the dark basement clubs we used to hang out in listening to industrial and new wave music. Das Kraftfuttermischwerk created this charming bit of internet goodness by inverting black-and-white footage of bats as they hung out upside-down.

Musician Luna Lee is here to brighten our day with another unique gayageum cover – this time taking on Echo and the Bunnymen’s brilliant 1984 track The Killing Moon. We bet she could pull off a mean version of Bedbugs and Ballyhoo.

Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand teamed up with iconic L.A. new wave act Sparks, and then hired on French directors AB/CD/CD to create an equally awesome video to go with the first single from their upcoming album.