Talk about out of time. From the band’s tubular logo to the Prince-like album title and the close-up photo of a dude in shades on the cover, What R U Waiting 4? sounds like the inside of a time machine headed straight for the early Eighties and to a triple bill featuring The Cars, Devo and Gary Numan.
No wonder Nevado Records hails this Great White North band from Vancouver, Canada, as “new wave revivalists."
These 10 songs with titles like “Bummer Party,” “Cool Kids Radio” and “I Wanna Be Whipped” fly by in less than 32 minutes. Yet that's plenty of time to embrace the nostalgic vibes popping out of the warm synths and fun melodies from this would-be 1982 Top 40 band. Just try listening to “R U Lookin’ 4 Love” -- with its Go-Go’s intro -- without cracking a big fat smile.
And when you realize that the names of the three clever time-traveling musicians in Autogramm are Jiffy Marx (vocals, guitar, synth), C.C. Voltage (bass) and The Silo (Drums), you’ll feel damn giddy.
“Wandering Eyes” leans a little darker than most of the other songs here, while “The Modern World” ventures too far into total-pop territory. But it's hard to nitpick when What R U Waiting 4? opens with the brilliantly retro anthem “Jessica Don’t Like Rock ’n’ Roll.” After that, you'll be hooked.
Track Listing:
1. Jessica Don’t Like Rock ’n’ Roll
2. R U Lookin’ 4 Love
3. Bummer Party
4. Sea of Regret
5. Wandering Eyes
6. Cool Kids Radio
7. The Modern World
8. Small Town
9. Peter Pan
10. I Wanna Be Whipped