But dig a little deeper and youвЂ™ll realize that вЂњScience Fiction,вЂќ and LetissierвЂ™s Christine and the Queens project as a whole, is about so much more than musical hero worship. Christine and the Queens, вЂњScience FictionвЂќДЄt first listen, the rolling bass line and buoyant synthesizers on French alt-pop star Christine and the QueensвЂ™ вЂњScience FictionвЂќ sound uncannily like Michael JacksonвЂ™s вЂњBillie Jean.вЂќ Couple that with the fact that Christine (the moniker of singer Heloise Letissier) has a penchant for wearing menswear and doing a fair amount of stiff, hip-thrusting moves, and at surface level she could come off as stridently worshiping the king of pop. And you know what else wonвЂ™t be weird, soon enough? Hearing this song blasted at a wedding with at least one dude playing air-keytar during the solos. вЂњThe вЂ80s and some of the вЂ90s was a time when weird was celebrated,вЂќ he later said. Singer Nick Petricca wrote the song after a night out at a club with his girlfriend, later citing Pat Benatar, the Cars, and Rick Springfield as influences. The quartetвЂ™s 2014 hit opens with a riff thatвЂ™s almost an exact copy of U2вЂ™s вЂњWhere the Streets Have No Name.вЂќ You can get mad about that or, as the title suggests, get off your ass and enjoy the moment.

The music aside, even WareвЂ™s voice is awash in that unmistakably emotive, acrobatic style of the Cocteau TwinsвЂ™ Elizabeth Fraser. I pray Prince heard it at least once while he was still alive. drum kicks (producer Benny BlancoвЂ™s touch), hits all the purple notes. вЂњTough Love,вЂќ with its breathy vocals and classic Bobby Z. ItвЂ™s not every day you come across a song that oozes Prince and isnвЂ™t also an insult to his memory. What вЂ80s goth wouldnвЂ™t love putting on mascara to lyrics like вЂњYour eyes are black xвЂ™s/Of hate and of hexesвЂќ? -Dan Reilly вЂњLost Boys and Girls Club,вЂќ the albumвЂ™s first single, opens with a reverb-heavy guitar pattern reminiscent of the SmithsвЂ™ вЂњHow Soon Is NowвЂќ before powering into gloomier Jesus and Mary ChainвЂ“Cure territory. Dum Dum Girls, вЂњLost Boys & Girls ClubвЂќДЄfter years of making lo-fi, girl-group-inspired garage rock, Dum Dum Girls took on a darker vibe for their third full-length, 2014вЂ™s Too True. The women of MUNA try to get over great love lost on вЂњWinterbreak.вЂќ The track could easily be mistaken for Sade, with gorgeous harmonies and keyboards that drip like water out of a faucet. Here are the ones we consider to be the 50 best, lovingly presented with respect and awe for that amazing, strange, and often groundbreaking era. There are countless tracks since 2010 (the time frame weвЂ™re using as our definition of вЂњmodernвЂќ) that borrow from the вЂ80s, and a great deal of them should be embarrassed by neither their sound nor its provenance.

And a new crop of musicians, from pop stars to indie darlings, embraced those sounds, emulating them in the same way other artists repurposed the blues, classic вЂ60s rock, and вЂ70s punk. The cool kids appreciated the tracks without sarcasm. Critics came around to laud the achievements of вЂ80s artists they once dismissed. But then fans who grew upВ secretly loving those songs stopped being embarrassed.

Owing to an array of one-hit wonders who overstuffed their tunes with synthesizers and went a little too heavy on the Aqua Net, itвЂ™s often easy to dismiss the music of the 1980s - and for a long time, many people did. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/VultureДЄll week on Vulture, weвЂ™re examining вЂ80s pop culture, and how it lives on today.

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