Blondie – Panic Of Girls

The ’80s are back via pop-punk group Blondie’s new album Panic Of Girls

The last time we heard from the long-forgotten ’80s post disco, new wave, punk pop, synth loving Blondie was in 2003 with their album Curse Of The Blondie. A lot had changed even then, when their only hit single from the album Good Boys simply escaped fan memory, which was cluttered with such anthems like ‘Maria,’ ‘Call Me’ or ‘Rapture.’

Much older and a tad bit wiser, Blondie makes one last attempt to reminisce in their era’s allegiance with a brand new full-length 11-track album, Panic Of Girls. Missing a partner-in-crime, bandmember Jimmy Destri (who owns song credits on ‘Rapture’ and ‘Maria’), vocalist Debbie Harry and guitarist/songwriter Chris Stein produce melodies that seem hurried, attempted at brilliance and maybe not as rebelliously fresh as Blondie of the Parallel Lines used to be. Having said that, the fan will love Panic Of Girls because of its throwback to the original Blondie sound ”“ replete with thick synth blasts, heavy guitaring and guttural vocals. ‘Mother,’ which is Debbie’s nostalgia-filled meldoy, is a tribute to her life in her post Playboy Bunny, new rock-chick, club-hopping times of the ”˜80s as the founding member of Blondie. The first single release of the album, ‘What I Heard,’ is a slick modern pop beat with electronica thrown in for good measure, courtesy Stein’s radical need to stay in tune with what’s new. Having said that, reggae version of Beirut’s ‘A Sunday Smile,’ strangely tedious French track ‘Le Blue’ and the monotonous ‘Girlie Girlie’ ”“ again Caribbean inspired, lose on their production values and you constantly fight the urge to skip over to the next. For all its worth, Debbie’s otherwise empowering lyrics are missing too. Still, stick your earplugs into this one to relearn everything you’ve known about the makings of a glitch pop sound.