What’s a recipe that is repeated over and over yet always sounds pretty good? A certain kind of new wave pop song, which has the following for its ingredients:

• Gated drum — check
• Synth-vibe-glock sound — check
• Dreams of a far off land that doesn’t exist but actually does
  exist somewhere near Merseyside — check

• click: China Crisis — Greenacre Bay

Thanks to the Aaron Aiken for introducing me to this song. I had previously written off most of the band China Crisis heretofore, but the synths in this song pre-date the late 1980’s sound of the Cure by, well, most of the decade.

• The Associates — 18 Karat Love Affair