By: Faetra Petillo
Rating: 10/11

If you thought that bringing back the eighties would only go so far as leggings and neon, you obviously haven't heard of Hank & Cupcakes. The duo, who this past Friday released their debut EP Pleasure Town, are bringing back the sound with a vengeance. And if you are one of those people who is too cool to get your groove on to Blondie or the Bangles, just stop reading this right now and go back to listening to your trendy ambiance and soul-wrenching folk. Because I, for one, think this music is awesome. And no, I don't exactly have a intelligent explanation as to why that is but after the first few measures of the album's opening number "Stay," I'm throwing on some layered socks and Keds and jumping up and down in my room and teasing out my hair. Maybe its because the eighties were a good time for me.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, but then again the duo themselves are a bit of an anomaly. Hank, a master of a bass player, stands tall and silent as he oh so casually moves his fingers at lightning speed, craftily spinning out a powerful electronic beat. Meanwhile, Cupcakes, a tiny and energetic sprite of a girl beats her drums ferociously with a steadiness that is a direct contrast to the rest of her body, which is bumping and grinding with no abandon, practically emanating sex, a quality intensified by the fact that girl can SING like the love child of Patti Smith and Cyndi Lauper. I dare you to listen to "Beat" and not marvel at the power of Cupcakes' vocals. The result? A sound that is wild and crisp. Poppy but bold. A guilty pleasure but with enough artistic merit to not illicit shame.

That's not to say that H&C is a carbon copy of the music we long buried with the photos of us displaying our best full body acid wash attire. They have an edge and are innovative and experimental in their own way. Maybe it's just that a little bit of fresh attitude and spunk goes a long way in making an impression on their sound, but there's something about their punk/electronica fusion that sounds refreshingly relevant and ground-breaking. Or maybe they are just doing a great job of sticking to, what I believe, is the greatest lesson we learned from the eighties: go big or go home.