One Thing Leads To Something New

Well I never thought my next music purchase would include a new album from a group I never really cared for. Listing to my local NPR radio station, I heard a magnificent song. By a outdated 80's band. But the song stuck with me all day long and I had to find out who it was. Finding out it was by The Fixx was a major surprise. The Fixx is a British new wave/pop band that had moderate success with 2 major singles in the U.S., those being "One Thing Leads To Another" and "Saved by Zero". Of course I never "really" listened to their music as I found "OTLTA" just too annoying so I conjured up the idea that the rest of their music would sound the same. Stands to reason, right? Wrong! Those comments "Stand to Fall" as they were really ahead of their time if you were to listen closely to what they were singing about. They were subtle in their attempts to grab legions of fans that stood with them since the beginning. And here they are with a brand new endeavour that is most amazing. I feel ashamed that I couldn't get pass "OTLTA". The only songs I enjoyed of theirs were "Stand or Fall" and "Red Skies" which were not as popular in the U.S as they were with the previously mentioned songs.

So without futher ado, this new album "Beautiful Friction" is a breath of fresh air to the sounds coming out of the radio today, all of which sound way over produced and alike. The Fixx reach deeper than they have before and bring a familiarity with them. I want to be blunt with you right now: the lead song "Anyone Else" is a song asking us to take our heads our of our asses and pay attention to all that we are doing for our future generations. The video for the song is just perfect. Being a kid and ignoring all the gay bashing, politicrits and religion fanatics and not being afraid of who you are and standing up to what you believe in. As Cy sings "I can only be myself, I can't be anyone else but me." Please believe in yourself!

They follow that up with a song titled "What God?" giving you a feeling of what you think God wants us to do in life, the things we don't want to do, asking questions over and over again, when you feel like you have lost all faith. Great guitar rockin' song! "Shaman" is a ethereal jam that evokes images of standing on a dune waiting for the power of the sun to infuse me with the knowledge and strength to journey through life unafraid of what might come. I have to say that Cy Curnin made me love his voice more when I heard "Something Ahead Of You", I feel he is somehow channeling Bowie with all the right moves. Curnin in his best form. "Girl With No Ceiling" starts with a bit of an island beat to accompany Cy. Then the tempo turns around: come the chours slowing to a waltz but is upbeat enough to still be swaying along to the song. Great guitar riffs through the song thanks to Jamie West-Oram.

I was not disappointed with this purchase and so glad I opened my eyes, heart and ears to this group. I am ready to take a look into this band that slipped by. I feel that I have to blame the radio stations for playing "OTLTA" too much and not more of "Red Skies" or other songs of theirs that hit you like a ton of bricks when you get the message they are sending. Like Cy sings "Stand or Fall, State your peace tonight", this is what I am stating. Damn you corporations that take over and play this so called crap you call music. I can't stand it. We need more music like The Fixx. We need more NPR stations that are free to play what they want, when they want. Thank you KNBA for giving me a chance to give The Fixx another chance. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have picked up "Beautiful Friction" based on one song and its sole video.

Songs to Listen to:  "What God", "Beautiful Friction",  "Anyone Else" and "Girl With No Ceiling"