Before punk wore makeup and completely traded its guitars for synths as it morphed into the form of New Wave that is best known by the general folks, there was a transitional period. Although most of today’s bands romanticizing the ‘80s find themselves chasing after the much beloved and much recognized synth-based sound of the New Wave movement, Tulsa Oklahoma’s BRONCHO seeks inspiration from this transitional period, which was the birth of New Wave: the form of New Wave that still had punk music in its DNA.
In the same vein as The Cure and The Cars in their early days, BRONCHO’s sophomore Just Enough Hip To Be Woman is a punk-pop dynamite, exploding with short catchy pop songs that have the soul of punk music. The band keeps things very simple on this album. BRONCHO is no The Police, and there is no great artistry that is to be expected in their music. The band is very clear on what they want from this album – that is, fun gritty punk-pop songs – and they don’t deviate even a whit from this target. And to achieve this, if the lyrical content involves nonsensical syllables such as “Ooh-Oh-Oh-Oh” (“What”), “Na-Na” (“Kurt”), and of course “Ta-Ta-Tu-Tu-Tu-Tu…” (“Class Historian”), then so be it. Compare these to “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” then it is fair to say that BRONCHO might have the same genius as The Police in writing amazingly catchy songs.
Just Enough Hip…is very much an album of the MTV era, with pretty tunes forming most of its backbone. Half of the album has more of a garage rock feel with rough edges. The other half, although melodic and tailor-made for ‘80s MTV, still has a coarse garage punk production quality, which gives it a bit more balls and makes it more admirable.
In the current musical landscape that is prevalent with New Wave-inspired acts, bands like BRONCHO are very few. To the kids of today who are discovering New Wave through the music of today’s bands and who think this music is all fluff and no bite, just listen to Just Enough Hip…and be prepared to have your perceptions drastically changed.
