Indie Basement is a weekly column on BrooklynVegan focusing on classic indie and alternative artists, “college rock,” and new and current acts who follow a similar path. There are reviews of new albums, reissues, box sets, books and sometimes movies and television shows. I’ve rounded up April’s best music, highlighting my favorite songs and albums, plus links to relevant features and news, a monthly playlist, and more.

April was a big month for returns. Two of my all-time favorite bands announced their first new albums in decades, and others who we haven’t heard from in a while dropped new songs. Best of all: they’re all good. The Indie Basement Best Songs of April is loaded long-running artists (plus one who are on the newer side.

As for albums, April was a busy release month but I picked six that I think are truly excellent, including sleazy punk from Sweden, a surprising post-punk/psych-garage collaboration, indie vets who are still at the top of their game 30 years on, the most unusual Waterboys album ever, and chilled out beats from Germany.

For more good stuff from April, I put together a playlist featuring all 10 songs I review here, a song from all six albums of the month, and more. That and the song/album reviews are below.

INDIE BASEMENT – BEST SONGS OF APRIL 2025

Stereolab – “Aerial Troubles”

Until a few weeks ago, even though Stereolab have been touring together again for six years, I never thought new Stereolab music was a possibility. It seemed enough just to have Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier on stage together (albeit as far apart as possible). But here we are and isn’t “Aerial Troubles” great! Maybe even more than Pulp (see below), this is the Stereolab we remember, specifically the poppier version of the band that gave us “Miss Modular,” “Captain Easychord,” and “Percolator.” It’s tightly packed with hypnotic grooves, call-and-response vocals and harmonies (Sadier with her Monade bandmate, Marie Merlet), freeze-dried disco guitar riffs, and of course loads of vintage keyboards and bleepy-bloopy analogue synths. “Aerial Troubles” truly feels like they never left.

Pulp – “Spike Island”

“I was born to perform, it’s a calling,” Jarvis Cocker sings on the first single and opening song on Pulp’s first album in 24 years. “I exist to do this — shouting and pointing.” Triumphant and danceable, “Spike Island” finds Jarvis (definitely one of the great pointers in rock) grappling with traps of nostalgia while clearly being called back to something he left behind in 2002. It’s very loosely framed around The Stone Roses’ infamous outdoor gig at the titular island where the between-sets DJ wouldn’t stop yelling “Spike Island, come alive!” Jarvis didn’t actually go to the Spike Island show — the song’s co-writer, Jason Buckle did — but stories of the DJ’s shouts stuck with him. (This is actually one of two songs on the album to reference it, and a Stone Roses show Jarvis did see inspired “Sorted for E’s and Wizz.”) “Spike Island” has all the elements you want in a Pulp song: anthemic earworm chorus, a bit of disco, glammy guitars, and some sexy whispering. You can never go back, but sometimes you can move forward reuniting with old friends.

Ty Segall – “Possession”

As I wrote last month, if you feel like you can’t keep up with all the Ty Segall music that comes out, you should make a point to check out his upcoming album, Possession, that’s out at the end of May. It almost feels like he’s been saving up his best songs for this one, giving extra care to the performances, arrangements and production. Dig the sweet twin-lead riff that powers the album’s title track, one of the best songs on the record that is also armed with a big, stick-in-your-head chorus filled with horns and roaring guitars, not to mention a very satisfying middle eighth. Does it sound just a little like Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider”? Yes. Am I ok with that? Absolutely.

The Hives – “Enough is Enough”

Some bands change with every album, and then there’s Swedish rock gods The Hives who have been basically doing the same thing since the ’90s and you wouldn’t want it any other way. The first single from their upcoming seventh album The Hives Forever Forever the Hives blasts you with a signature Hives riff, snotty lyrics and hook after hook. “Everyone’s a little fuckin’ bitch,” Pelle wails on the opening lyric and, as far as I’m concerned, as long as The Hives keep writing rippers like this it’s never enough.

Wet Leg – “catch these fists”

With a level of hype not seen since the mid-’00s, I was worried Wet Leg would suffer hype burnout following their whose debut album which was inescapable in 2022  So I’m glad they took their time following it up instead immediately jumping back into the album/tour cycle. Lead single “catch these fists” hasn’t messed with Wet Leg’s signature sound much, keeping things saucy, cheeky, and fighting fit. Man down!

Allo Darlin’ – “Tricky Questions”

Nine years since breaking up and 11 since their last album, underappreciated UK/AU indiepop greats Allo Darlin’ are back together and making new music. “Tricky Questions” shows Elizabeth Morris has not lost her way with a melody or a lyric that transports you to a time and place: in this case, Florence, Italy, where she moved when the band was put on hold. With hammond organ and mandolin, it’s warmly nostalgic, life affirming, and very Allo Darlin’. Welcome back, you’ve been missed.

The Beths – “Metal”

New Zealand’s The Beths feel like direct descendents of Allo Darlin’ and are, along with Alvvays, the preeminent practitioners of sparkling, jangly guitar pop of the 2020s. Their first new music in two and a half years, “Metal” is another instant earworm, with Liz Stokes’ gorgeous melodies and searching lyrics in the spotlight: “And I know I’m a collaboration / Bacteria, carbon and light / A florid orchestration / A recipe of fortune and time.” She and the band, who show a little muscle near the end of the song, make deceptively simple (but actually quite complex) music like this sound as natural as waking up.

Lightheaded – “Same Drop”

Actually, we might be in the most fertile period for jangly indiepop in more than a decade. In addition to The Beths, Alvvays and Allo Darlin’, here’s the latter’s Slumberland Records labelmates and NJ residents Lightheaded who take a distinctly ’60s-ish approach. “Same Drop” sounds like it could’ve been a classic girl group song, but one that also fits in alongside cardigan-wearers like Camera Obscura, The Would-Be-Goods, or The Aislers Set. You might swear this was a song you already knew but it is all Lightheaded’s doing, and the fuzzy, reverby sonics — not to mention the distant sound of a trumpet — just add the charm.

Miki Berenyi Trio & Lol Tolhurst – “Stranger”

The Miki Berenyi Trio (featuring members of Lush and Moose) just released their debut album a month ago and they didn’t wait too long to follow it up with this terrific non-LP single co-written and featuring Miki’s former tourmate and onetime Cure drummer Lol Tolhurst as well as his son, Gray. As much as I like the throwback drum machines on Tripla, it’s good to hear real drumming behind those heavenly harmonies and dreamy guitars. More of these, please.

The Raveonettes – “Strange”

Much like The Hives, Danish duo The Raveonettes never stray to far from their signature sound: surfy guitars, Everly Brothers-style harmonies, reverby drums, atmospheric arrangements, blown-out sonics, big hooks, and earworm melodies. “Strange” opens the group’s first album in 11 years and don’t it all sound wonderful, hanging suspended in a warm, atmospheric goo of cascading guitars, gorgeous harmonies and radio chatter beamed in from outer space.

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INDIE BASEMENT – BEST ALBUMS OF APRIL 2025

Viagra Boys – viagr aboys (Shrimptech Enterprises)

During the first line of “Made Out of Meat” — “Overweight freaks ride around on wheelchairs motorized by electric motors made by goblins in a factory overseas” — tatted up Viagra Boys frontman Sebastian Murphy lets out a belch mid-spiel as the word “factory” leaves his mouth but he just keeps on going, not slowing down for a second. Whether that was an accident they decided to keep or something that Murphy planned out (or an accident they recreated), it is a perfect Viagra Boys moment and a perfect way to open their excellent fourth album. Even without that, “Man Made Out of Meat” would be an instant classic with its big riff dance-rock beat to its themes of the state of art in 2025 and a shout-along chorus that includes the couplet “I am a man that’s made of meat / And you’re on the internet looking at feet,” but the burp is, uh, special sauce on the hamburger. From there, viagr aboys (not a typo; the title is their way of beating spam filters) doesn’t let up, and they’ve really honed their brand of party-forward sleazoid mutant punk to a greasy point, loading their songs with quotable lines, serious grooves, and the occasional emission of noxious gasses. It’s fun, very danceable, and a noticeable step forward sonically with moments of poignant subtlety (yes, really) amongst all the bodily functions. It all may make their critics more confused/incensed. Advice: don’t dissect viagr aboys — embrace the quagmire and sink willingly into the muck.

Pick up viagr aboys on Blue & White Marble Vinyl in the BV shop.

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Deerhoof – Noble and Godlike in Ruin (Deerhoof)

Always different, always the same, Deerhoof only sound like themselves at this point, 31 years into their career as experimental indie rockers who are so skilled they can sound like a car wreck one second and fire off complicated mathy riffs another, delivering skronky noise and joyous pop in equal measure. Noble and Godlike in Ruin, their 20th album, is one of their most enjoyable and a great example of everything they do. Producing themselves, drummer Greg Saunier, guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez, and indefatigable singer Satomi Matsuzaki, have delivered one of their higher fi efforts in a while, with strings dancing with angular fretwork, swirls of synthesizers, and percussion that can sound as tight as the JB’s or a rockslide. Songs are tight and crammed with hooks, a brightly colored candy shell surrounding themes of climate change, civil unrest, pandemics and our world’s uncertain future. Saunier says the band often asked themselves during the making of the record, “What’s the point of music when genocide is standard fare and the murderers are the most rewarded people in society?” But Deerhoof, of course, are not giving in and fight the only way they can. Example: “Immigrant Songs” could be the poppiest indie rock song ever about immigration issues, a very hot 2025 topic, and is loaded with irresistible “bah bah bahs.” The words pack punch: “You think we’re in your house / You are mistaken…This song we sing won’t be for you / Never again!” It’s Deerhoof’s best song in ages, one that also cuts its sweetness with three minutes of pure noise at the end. It’s the Deerhoof way.

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The Convenience – Like Cartoon Vampires (Winspear)

New Orleans based musical collaborators and production duo Nick Corson and Duncan Troast play in Video Age and have worked with artists like Rui Gabriel and Drugdealer — groups who fall on the mellower side of the indie rock spectrum — but as The Convenience they make angular guitar pop that sounds straight out of 1979. “Pop” is the key word here; while their instruments slash with wiry leads, the bones of “I Got Exactly What I Wanted,” “Dub Vultures,” and “Waiting for a Train” are built on tight songwriting and solid hooks. That allows them to take the songs in surprising directions via the sparse, post-punk inspired arrangements that owe more than a little to The Fall, Wire, Pere Ubu and Gang of Four and really makes this album replayable. The first two dB’s albums come to mind in that regard, but what Like Cartoon Vampires really reminds me of is Spoon circa A Series of Sneaks, a record that is similarly lean, mean, and strips away anything inessential, leaving diamond-tight songs that shoot straight into your nervous system.

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Chime Oblivion – Chime Oblivion (DEATHGOD)

Who saw this one coming? David Barbarossa, whose distinctive tribal, tom-heavy drumming style was a key feature of early records by both Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, met John Dwyer at an OSEES show, they hit it off, and talked about making some music together. “I flew David out, we met at my studio and spent five days writing basin drums ideas,” says. He then recruited a few others for the project which they named Chime Oblivion: Weasel Walter (“to add all that legitimate old-school weird proto-punk no wave guitar scratch to it, which of course he did masterfully”), OSEES synth guru Tom Dolas, Bent Arcana’s Brad Caulkins for sax, and singer H.L. Nelly (“I knew her from a record I’d put out back in the day for a band called Naked Lights from Oakland. I knew that she could pull off the vocal style I had in mind”). Dwyer is the secret sauce that glues all this together, and keeps things a little weird, and Chime Oblivion sounds like it could be lost gem from the original post-punk era. The drumming is powerful and just the right amount of busy, Dwyer’s basslines are funky/dubby, and the guitars slash while saxophones skronk wildly. H.L. Nelly does indeed bring the right vocal style — nervous, excited and wailing — making for a group that sounds somewhere between X-Ray Spex, The Slits and Kleenex. The songs are great too, with nagging, bouncy “And Again,” the Pop Group-esque “Heated Horses,” and the saxxy and psychedelic “Neighborhood Dog” being highlights. My only criticism is that Chime Oblivion is currently a studio-only project with no plans to play live. These songs demand to be pogo’d to in a sweaty club.

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The Waterboys – Life, Death And Dennis Hopper (Sun Records

Known for celtic rock anthems like “The Whole of the Moon” and “Fisherman’s Blues,” The Waterboys have without a doubt made the most unusual, unexpected album of their career: a rock opera about iconoclast actor, writer, director and artist Dennis Hopper, released on legendary Memphis label Sun Records. The album traces Hopper’s life from his adolescence in Kansas, to moving to Hollywood in 1955, and his friendship with James Dean, through his counterculture hit Easy Rider, the ’70s when he lost the plot, his ’80s comeback which continued through the ’90s, and his death in 2010. “It’s not a tribute record,” Scott told The New York Times. “It’s an exploration. It’s not just Dennis’s story. It’s a story of the times.” Even musically these are not your typical Waterboys songs, instead matching each song’s music to the era it covers, including country, pre-rock pop, doo-wop, ultra-psychedelic rock, cabaret and a few anthems, with help along the way from Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, and Steve Earle. Life, Death And Dennis Hopper is an hour-long but with most of the 25 songs under three minutes, the album really moves and if you know anything about Hopper, it’s a fun, compelling and tuneful work that’s as wild, wooly and clever as its subject.

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DJ Koze – Music Can Hear Us (Pampa)

As DJ Koze, Stefan Kozalla can command a massive festival crowd but his records have gotten more relaxed and idiosyncratic over the years. He’s always made laid-back tracks, even when they sport four-on-the-floor beats, but on his first album in six years he’s made a record that feels best suited for a hammock strung up between two palm trees. Music Can Hear Us feels like a cousin to Hit Parade, the 2023 album Koze made with Róisín Murphy, with its swaying, tropical vibes and warm haze coating everything. He’s still digging deep in the crates for obscure sample gold and inviting lots of guests, but this is just-before-dawn comedown music. That, or for planetarium use, as the spacey soundbath elements are strong, from the celestial “Colours of Autumn” (ft Ada), to Damon Albarn collab “Pure Love,” the wow and flutter warped tape sounds of “The Talented Mr Tripley,” and the classical guitar infused “Der Fall” (one of two songs to feature Sophia Kennedy on vocals). My favorite songs involve collabs with fellow German artists: “Wie schön du bist” is a teutonic slow jam featuring Arnim Teutoburg-Weiss & Düsseldorf Düsterboys, and “What About Us” is with The Notwist’s Markus Archer. The pace does pick up in the final quarter of the album with a triplet of bangers — “Brushcutter,” “Buschtaxi” and “Aruna” — which would be an odd tracklist placement for anyone but him. DJ Koze, idiosyncratic to the end.

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Here’s the Indie Basement Best of May 2025 playlist

Looking for more? Browse the Indie Basement archives.

And check out what’s new in our shop.

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Beyond “Blue Monday”: New Order’s Best Deep Cuts

“Dreams Never End” (1981)

New Order were still underneath the shadow of Joy Division in 1981, a hard shackle to shake. Unsure how to progress after the death of Ian Curtis, both guitarist Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook sing lead on New Order's debut album, Movement, and both sound like they're trying to mimic him. "Dreams Never End," which features Hook on vocals, is musically bright and sunny, with Hook, Sumner and Gilbert's instruments swirling around Stephen Morris' insistent, danceable beat. The Cure would crib liberally from this for their 1986 single "Inbetween Days."

“Procession” (1981)

Following their debut single, "Ceremony" (which had been played live with Joy Division), their next release was "Procession" which felt like a natural progression from Joy Division's Closer, with glacial synths washing over a frantic rhythm section and Bernard Sumner's brittle guitars. Recorded and released before Movement, "Procession" nonetheless feels past it, with Bernard Sumner coming into his own as lead vocalist. While a single, "Procession" didn't make it on to the main tracklist for 1987's Substance, but was instead relegated to the bonus disc of the CD. But it's a pivotal song in their evolution.

“Turn the Heater On” (1982 John Peel Session)

Keith Hudson's "Turn the Heater On" was Ian Curtis' favorite reggae song, says Peter Hook in his Substance memoir, saying it was where Bernard Sumner "got the got the idea for using the melodica," an instrument which would turn up in New Order songs like "Your Silent Face" and "Love Vigilantes." Barney's only playing guitar at the end, after he's stopped singing," adds Hook, only kinda joking that "That became the whole template for the band."

“The Village” (1983)

Power, Corruption & Lies is a perfect record, and none of the songs were released as singles -- "Blue Monday" was tacked onto the U.S. CD release -- so every song could theoretically fit on this list. There are moments of sadness and desolation, but there are also songs of unabashed joy. In much the same spirit as "Age of Consent," "The Village" bounces along like the first day of spring with Sumner singing "Our love is like the flowers / The rain, the sea and the hours." The mid-section instrumental -- with guitars, synthesizers and drum machines joining forces -- remains one of New Order's most magical moments.

"The synths are incredible from 1:45 so in your face but not overpowering ... then they disappear - my whole taste in music seemed to change because of this song" - The Charlatan's Tim Burgess on "The Village"

“Leave Me Alone” (1983)

Many of New Order's most genius moments come from the interplay between Peter Hook's bass -- which is almost always played high up on the neck to where some mistake it for guitar -- and Bernard Sumner's guitar. Is there a more perfect example than on Power Corruption & Lies' closing track? The bass hook opens the song, but it's when the chiming guitar lead enters that "Leave Me Alone" truly blooms. (Gillian Gilbert adds further, crucial, counterpoint guitar lines.) A grey-hued portrait of loneliness ("On a thousand islands in the sea / I see a thousand people just like me"), it's one of New Order's crowning achievements, fading out with two more minutes of gorgeous instrumental melancholia.

“Thieves Like Us” (1984)

This is the big concession to the "no singles" rule on this list. While "Thieves Like Us" went to #18 in the UK in 1984, it does not have the stature of "Bizarre Love Triangle," "Temptation," "Blue Monday," "Sub-Culture," "True Faith" or even LP tracks like "Age of Consent" or "Love Vigilantes." But it is one of New Order's best, most deeply emotive songs -- it's Peter Hook's favorite (you can see his full Top 10 below) -- that needs all six minutes and 36 seconds to work its magic. Bernard Sumner's vocals doesn't even come in till two-and-a-half minutes into the song, long after we've been seduced by the song's NYC hip-hop inspired rhythm section and majestic washes of synths. While the song works well as an instrumental -- it plays over the "making the dress" montage in Pretty in Pink -- Sumner gives a great delivery with a whole lot of "Loves," in his signature, fragile style.

PETER HOOK: THE TEN BEST NEW ORDER SONGS from his memoir "Substance: Inside New Order" 1. "Thieves Like Us"
2. "Leave Me Alone"
3. "Homage" (unreleased)
4. "Too Late" (John Peel session)
5. "Someone Like You"
6. "Ruined in a Day" (K-KLass Remix)
7. "Every Little Counts"
8. "Age of Consent"
9. "Temptation"
10. "Eligia"

“Lonesome Tonight” (1984)

"Lonesome Tonight" is, according to Peter Hook, New Order's ode to Elvis Presley. Bernard Sumner was apparently obsessed with a version of "Lonesome Tonight" (where The King can't stop laughing) and suggested to the rest of New Order they try jamming it on stage one night. That bit of C-F chord improvisation became this song, which Hook calls "a glorious tune even though it's nothing like Elvis', given away in true fashion as a b-side." (It's the flip to "Thieves Like Us.") New Order rarely needed more than two chords to create something amazing (see all of Power, Corruption and Lies), and when the synthesizers crest halfway through, it evokes Joy Division's "Atmosphere." If you're wondering, that is Peter Hook clearing his sinuses at the four-minute mark. "When Barney heard me hocking up phlegm into a handkerchief he suggested we put it on at the end because the contrast between something so beautiful and something so awful might be interesting. He was absolutely right."

“Murder” (1984)

New Order have always had a way with instrumentals and this one's a real tour-de-force, a pounding goth nightmare powered by Stephen Morris' propulsive drumming, a sinister bass line from Hook and Sumner's three-note, cyclical guitar hook. The song also makes great, creepy use of movie samples of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Malcolm McDowell in infamous big-budget softcore film Caligula. "Murder," which has been covered by The Charlatans and K-X-P, was originally only released as a single in Belgium, but later appeared on the second disc of the Substance two-CD set.

“Elegia” (full version) (1985)

An ode to Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores, specifically the pocket watch scene from A Few Dollars More, "Elegia" opens side two of 1985's highly underrated Low-Life. While the five-minute instrumental is carefully paced, exploding into full Sergio Leone glory in the last minute, the original 17-minute version is even better. "Dylan Jones - then editor at id magazine --asked us if we’d like to do some music for a short 15-20 min art film," Stephen Morris says. "We went into a studio in Wembley and did a marathon all night session. The film never happened, but we liked 'Elegia' so much it got edited down to fit on the LP." As Morris says, "Hooky's bass melodies on 'Elegia' are majestic."

"Elegia" is one of three New Order tracks to appear in Pretty in Pink ("Thieves Like Us" and "Shellshock," which appears on the soundtrack album, are the others), and you may have also heard it in Stranger Things, and the trailer for video game "Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain."

“Sooner Than You Think” (1985)

Like Power, Corruption and Lies, Low-Life is a near-perfect album and picking from the many great songs is difficult. Following "Blue Monday" and "Thieves Like Us," New Order really came into their own as far as blending rock and club music. While the albums that follow would more often than not have songs that were either "rock" or "synth," Low-Life let things intermingle in wonderful and surprising ways. After a building, minute-long intro that is mostly guitar, bass and drums, "Sooner Than You Think" shifts gears and lets the keyboards take over. "A very unusual tune, showing exactly why I used to love New Order," says Peter Hook in his memoir. "We were so versatile." As the lyrics describe, the song was actually written after "a party in [New Order's] hotel" in Zurich in 1984. "I think some members of the Furious Five were there, no Grandmaster Flash," recalls Stephen Morris. "There was a very loud blaster in a very small room - other hotel guests were not amused - complaints were made, maybe I dreamt the Furious Five bit? But not the Swiss police though."

“Face Up” (1985)

This one should've been a single. "When we first wrote Face up in early 1984 we thought it was the best thing ever," says Stephen Morris. "Face Up" is another New Order song where two disparate parts have been grafted together, with an an atmospheric intro ("inspired by Caligula" says Hook) that then drastically shifts gears into music that all but demands you bounce up and down. Sonically, "Face Up" is pure ebullience, the kind few besides New Order can do with guitars, but the lyrics -- "Oh how I cannot bear the thought of you" -- are a decided kiss-off from a spurned lover. "I couldn’t understand why some people didn’t get Face Up’s euphoria, but maybe you had to be playing the drums to fully get that," adds Morris.

“Way of Life” (1986)

As the '80s progressed, New Order became more and more known as a synthpop band, but they remained a clever, inventive rock band on album tracks, as is evidenced by the entire first side of 1986's Brotherhood. "Way of Life" closes out Side A, beginning with another gloomy fake-out intro before blossoming into a wonderful pop song with a chorus so infectious it seems impossible they would bury it this deep into the album. Hook says "We were trying to emulate 'Age of Consent' so I just played the riff backwards, and voilà."

“Every Little Counts” (1986)

New Order were guilty a few times over the years of what Peter Hook calls "five o'clock in the morning lyrics." Sometimes that meant something special, like "you caught me at a bad time, so why don't you piss off" (Power, Corruption & Lies' "Your Silent Face") and sometimes it gives you the opening lines to Brotherhood's closing track. "Every second counts when I am with you / I think you are a pig, you should be in a zoo," which Bernard Sumner cannot get through without laughing. (He also didn't feel a need to do another take.) And yet, "Every Second Counts" is still pure gold, making great use of orchestral samples, harmony and Sumner's winning "do de do de dooh" chorus. "Every Little Counts" is also a perfect album-closer, with a massive, woozy swell from their Emulator sampling keyboard -- "with Barney holding all the keys down at once, using both arms" -- and then a great final joke that definitely freaked out some vinyl listeners at the time.

“1963” (1987)

Like "The Perfect Kiss," this b-side to 1987 single "True Faith" is a story-song about a doomed relationship -- and perhaps firearms -- set to ultra-catchy crystalline synthpop. There's a case to be made that it's better than the A-side (which was one of New Order's biggest hits and their first entry into the Billboard Top 40). For people like Peter Hook who wished more of Peter Hook's distinctive bass stylings made it into the the final product (it doesn't show up till right before the slow fade out), Arthur Baker's sublime remix adds in more string instruments -- bass and guitar -- throughout.

“Vanishing Point” (1989)

Both Stephen Morris and Peter Hook's favorite song on 1989's Technique, "Vanishing Point" is one of New Order's finest electronic dance songs (and it really should've been a single instead of either "Fine Time" or "Run"). Like "Thieves Like Us," this one is in no hurry to get to vocals, with the 90 second lead-in playing like an overture, leading us through the major melodic points; when Sumner does begin with "Grow up children don't you suffer / at the hands of one another" it's a cinematic experience. "Vanishing Point" has the best chorus on the album and the best breakdown and "drop" (before they called them that), that was clearly influenced by the two months spent in Ibiza making the album (and spending a lot of time at the club).

“Dream Attack” (1989)

individual lanes, but the album closes with the glorious "Dream Attack" that brings the whole record together, mixing ragged guitar solos, windswept acoustic guitars, sampled orchestra hits, sequencers and live drums -- plus another great chorus -- all together as only New Order can do. Bernard Sumner apparently had The Eagles' "Hotel California" in mind with the song's two-minute jam outro which, in their hands, works. Gillian Gilbert, who played those wonderful acoustic guitars, says, "To me, Dream Attack' sums up the whole album. It’s bright breezy and uplifting...a good song to walk off into the sunset to."

“Special” (1993)

New Order were not especially getting along in the early-'90s, but got back together to make a new album, as they were low on funds after their label Factory Records (which went belly-up the year prior) and their troubled Manchester club, The Hacienda, depleted their bank accounts. Republic was, by all accounts, not the most pleasant recording experience with Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook butting heads constantly. There's not much of Hook's signature bass on the album, but there is some unfortunate rapping by Sumner. Republic does contain "Regret," one of their best-ever singles (a Top 40 hit in the US), and some of the old magic can also be found tucked away near the end of Side 2 with the sultry, moody "Special," which is driven by Hook's bass and another great chorus. Lyrically the song is perhaps referencing the demise of Factory Records or the group itself: "It was always special, like water down the drain." New Order went on an eight-year hiatus not long after its release.