WORDS AND IMAGES: DANIEL GRAY | New wave. Art rock. Synth pop. Rock. Take your pick because it’s been hard to define the music of The Fixx. As much as they have been labeled an “’80s band,” they still make new music, and more than half their album output comes from the ’90s and 2000s. But still, they seem to be products of the Reagan era, and the multitude of videos played on MTV, shot in the style and look of the day, helped freeze them in time for the casual audience. But The Fixx fans know better.
Playing to a packed house at the Belasco in downtown Los Angeles, The Fixx took the stage and opened with “Beautiful Friction,” the title song from their 2012 album. Out of their first four songs, only “Stand or Fall” was from the 1980s. And while, without a doubt, many in the audience were there to hear the hits, which include four top-twenty tunes, The Fixx was out to play a range of songs from their vast repertoire and not pander to any era.
Truthfully, the night was all the better for it. Because the band are better musicians and Cy Curnin is a much deeper lyricist than standard definition music videos can convey. The quintet featured the “classic” lineup of Cy Curnin on lead vocals, Jamie West-Oram on guitar, Rupert Greenall on keyboards, Adam Woods on drums, and Dan K. Brown on bass.
Curnin is tall and lean, and the all-white suit he wore only enhanced a theatrical nature that has a bit of David Bowie and David Byrne to it. He doesn’t just sing songs, he performs them. Curnin is easily the most animated of the band, with Greenall and Woods naturally remaining behind their respective instruments, and the nattily dressed Brown, complete with a top hat, staying anchored in place while playing bass.
