Idolator

The Houston Press has an in-depth feature this week on early '80s Texas new wave heroes the Judy's, who recently re-released their catalog on CD and reunited to play at the Austin Music Awards. I first heard of the Judy's my freshman year of high school as I was digging through my dad's record collection, and immediately latched on to their super-mart brand of bass-and-percussion-oriented weirdo pop, which goes above and beyond your run-of-the-mill new wave fare, an especially impressive feat considering that they developed their sound not amid a thriving scene in New York, L.A., or even Austin, but rather in a garage in the (then rural) Houston suburb of Pearland. They became massively popular in Texas, opening for the B-52s and Talking Heads, and packing clubs for their own shows. Their most famous song is an infectious, squealing tribute the Jonestown massacre called "Guyana Punch." Thankfully there's a live 1981 performance of the song, complete with water-tossing and cutoff shorts. Never has mass suicide been so catchy. More »