Alphabeat, “Boyfriend”

Years ago, I extolled the brilliance of an iPod’s shuffle function. To this date, I’m still using it to rediscover great songs I’ve forgotten about since I own too much damn music. The latest one for me comes from this Danish sextet, who released their debut album five years ago. It was a big hit with consumers all over Europe (and online music bloggers worldwide), but it wasn’t legally available for purchase in the U.S. until years later (and only via iTunes.)

While This is Alphabeat sadly runs out of the steam about halfway through, the first five tracks play like a greatest hits compilation. In 2008, “Fascination” was the obvious standout for me, but now I think I prefer “Boyfriend”, an even more blatant 80s pastiche with a chorus as glorious as anything Bananarama (or perhaps even Madonna) ever unleashed on top 40 radio; for hardcore 80s dance-pop aficionados, the song’s remix by Pete Hammond (best known for his remixes of Bananarama’s original hits) will seem definitive.