Sound Effects
by G. Maiello

Cowboy Junkies at Irving Plaza on March 2

The breeding ground of what we now call “alternative music,” the Eighties was one of the most diverse periods ever for contemporary rock and roll. The post-punk decade spawned countless creative artists, along with a popular genre that has yet to lose its lustre: New Wave.

A testament to its staying power aren’t only the CD compilations and raft of cable music channel “flashback” shows. Better yet, take a look at the area concert listings in the coming weeks.

Cowboy Junkies made their move at the tail end of the decade, with “The Trinity Sessions,” a live album recorded with a single microphone in a Toronto church. The instrumentation was spare, the sound centering on lead singer Margo Timmins’ exquisite voice - particularly on the haunting cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane.”

The Junkies, who will be at at Irving Plaza on March 2, have moved steadily toward a more layered sound. Yet their languid, melancholic folk still hinges on Timmins, who can wrap herself around a lyric like few singers of her ilk.

Perhaps the deepest roots of the New Wave were planted by “goth rock,” a gloomy - almost ghoulish - kind of music that mistakenly has been cited as influencing, among others, Marilyn Manson.

One of glam rock’s first pioneers in the early Eighties was the British band Bauhaus, whose lead singer, Peter Murphy, has enjoyed a long solo career since the group split in 1983. Murphy plays at Irving Plaza on March 21 and 22.

The retro-wave continues on March 10, when The Pretenders play Roseland. If Chrissie Hynde has lost anything over the years, you’d be hard-pressed to notice. If anything, she’s gained from experience and can be considered among rock-and-roll’s greatest artists.

Yet while the Pretenders were as hot as any of the British Eighties bands - a list that includes Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Squeeze, and the Clash -- two of the more influential acts of the time have both survived and remained relevant.

Although some critics derisively referred to their music as “mope rock,” the Cure and the Smiths both attracted the disaffected in droves not only with tales of alienation but with catchy melodies, as well. That Morrissey, the former lead singer of the Smiths, and the Cure are playing in New York City the same weekend is a charming coincidence.

Although Morrissey’s Feb. 25 show at Roseland is sold out (as was his Feb. 24 performance at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank), tickets remained at this writing for a recently-added gig at the Beacon Theater on Feb. 29.

Steven Patrick Morrissey disbanded the Smiths in 1987 after six albums, but the laconic singer hasn’t lost any of his momentum over the years, establishing himself as a viable solo artist, even though he hasn’t released an album in nearly three years.

It helps, of course, that he’s kept the same morose, ironic style while fashioning a sound that’s given shy, reclusive music fans a messianic hero.

The only cult king in the same league as Morrissey, the Cure’s Robert Smith, follows him into Roseland on Feb. 28, on the heels of a new album, “Bloodflowers.”

Shouts of “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Just Like Heaven” will invariably rise early at the Cure show. Smith has never been one to disappoint, however - unless, of course, you count the commotion he caused when he cut his spidery mop-top on MTV. You don’t sell more than 25 million albums over 20 years by ignoring your audience.

Despite several lineup changes, the Cure has remained perhaps the most mainstream of the alternative acts, poppy yet provocative, the true pioneers of goth rock.

Their work has been the expression of Smith’s intense vision, ranging from slow, gloomy dirges to headlong pop, from enraged cries of desperation to what, on “Bloodflowers,” seems a peaceful acceptance of the world as it is. In that way, the new album hints that, perhaps, this is the Cure’s final go-round.

It was inevitable, of course. Stubborn though it’s been, New Wave wasn’t going to stick around forever. The last thing any of its more talented progenitors wanted was to become a nostalgia act.

There’s still time to catch them before that happens, though.

2/20/00

Beacon Theatre: 74th Street & Broadway, NYC. For info, call: (212) 496-7070

Irving Plaza: 17 Irving Place at 15th Street, NYC. For info, call: (212) 777-6800. Also: www.irvingplaza.com

Roseland: 239 W. 52nd St., NYC. For info, call: (212) 777-1224

A visit to the Ultimate Band List at www.ubl.com will bring you to related Websites for the various artists.

Also: The Cowboy Junkies have their very own Website, which they operate and maintain: www.cowboyjunkies.com

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