Men Without Hats
Love in the Age of War
(Big Fat Truck)
3.5/5
Everything old is new again. Or, at least, everything old has a new album.
The tunes on ’80’s Canadian hitmakers Men Without Hats’ new release, Love In the Age of War, harken back to a different era. A time when real instruments were boring, where synthesized sounds ruled the land. And that’s not all bad.
Your preconceived notions may be right: this is an ’80’s revival album from a band that achieved its biggest success back then. But that doesn’t make it hard to listen to. The album is full of catchy synth pop, from the first single “Head Above Water” right down to the title track. Other tunes, like “Live and Learn,” are just aching to be remixed and become dance-club favourites.
Men Without Hats may not be rewriting the history books with this latest attempt, but there’s no denying lead singer Ivan Doroschuk (who is now based here in Victoria) has something left to give the world. “All I want is the future,” Doroschuk sings on “Everybody Knows.” Funny thing is, it sounds like it came straight from the past.