Cosmic Thing

COSMIC THING spawned two major singles. The first one to hit--and the one that remains most durable--is "Love Shack," a truly bizarre but extremely infectious mix of funky rhythm and catchy melody dominated by Fred Schneider's ultra-silly, ultra-clever pseudo-rap--the song was and is a tremendous amount of fun, and while it lacks the truly weird edge of earlier B-52's cuts it remains one of the best dance party cuts I've ever come across, something that will get you on your feet faster than you can say "Bang Bang." The second hit, "Roam," was more specifically pop--but pop with a B-52's twist: a covertly sexy lyric and Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson blasting out unexpected harmonies from beneath their dueling beehive hairdos.

But COSMIC THING has more to offer than just these two cuts: everything here is extremely well done. The downbeat "Dry Country" has a seductive swing to it; "Deadbeat Club" is super smooth; "Topaz" is a remarkable little thing, sweet and sour all at once; and the largely non-vocal "Follow Your Bliss" wraps up the set on an unexpected but effective note. Along the way we also have at least three cuts that are very, very distinctly B-52's and as far out as anything the band did in their earlier incarnation: the rapid fire "June Bug," "Bushfire," and "Channel Z"--all of them with jagged rhythms, collapsing vocals, weird musical settings, and harmonies that go from liquid to strident before you can say "knock a little louder!"

By and large, the B-52's does the sort of music where a little goes a long way, but here they hit a really neat balance between their earlier extremes and some really solid pop inflections. The result may not please every one who is addicted to their original, undiluted sound, but the result is an extremely playable set that can be repeated again and again without you beginning to feel like roadkill on the intergalactic highway: it's funky, funny, stylish, and it still has enough of an edge to let you know that this really is the B-52's.

Producers Don Was and Nile Rogers were, in those days, two of the most highly respected producers in the business, and their talents were put to good use here.

We begin with the title track "Cosmic Thing", which is not so much a song as a declaration of intent, upbeat and manic. It lacks some of the musical finesse of the rest of the tracks but sets the tone for the album admirably. From here on in pretty much every track is a gem. "Dry County" has a great melody and will have you singing along. "Deadbeat Club" likewise.

"Love Shack", of course, will live forever. One of the world's best party songs that gets everybody dancing. "Junebug" completes what us old fogies used to call 'side one', and then it's onto "Roam". Now, listening to this again recently I came to the conclusion that the word 'masterpiece' was invented to describe these four minutes of music. Melodically it's perfect; lyrically it's sharp; it has one of the most sing-alongable choruses in pop history; and even the middle-eight section is a dream. I swear, those vocal harmonies between Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson are heaven sent.

And as if that wasn't enough, the album carries on through "Bushfire" into "Channel Z", which could have been a smash hit single in its own right, and then the divine "Topaz". Seemingly Topaz was inspired by a series of spooky co-incidences that happened to the band following the death of former guitarist Ricky Wilson a year or two earlier. Whatever, the results are magnificent.

Having come this far you might expect things to fizzle out at the end, but far from it. In an inspired move, the B52's chose to end proceedings with an (almost) instrumental track. Quite a brave move, when you consider that the band's musical signature lies in the vocal talents of the girls. But here we see the musical and songwriting talents of the group coming to the fore. "Follow Your Bliss" is an absolutely gorgeous slice of dreamy melodic pop that serves as the perfect finale to a perfect album.

Probably the B52's greatest asset is their twin-harmonized lead vocals - Kate & Cindy are both exceptional singers. Sadly Cindy Wilson left the band after Cosmic Thing, and the follow-up album 'Good Stuff' suffered as a result, despite their best efforts to multi-track Kate's vocals and imitate the harmonious style. I'd recommend the previous album too, 'Bouncing Off the Satellites', which was the band's first step into the mainstream pop world and which features many beautiful pop songs (not least 'Summer of Love' and 'Aint it a Shame').