Kate Fagan
I Don’t Wanna Be Too Cool
★★★
CAPTURED TRACKS. CD/DL/LP
Expanded edition of classic tracks from Chicago-based ska-punk diva.
Fed up with the elitism of her native New York Studio 54 scene, post-punk singer Kate Fagan relocated to Chicago in 1980 and self-released I Don’t Wanna Be Too Cool, a defiantly direct club-pop ode to synthetic love (“I know your cool is chemical/I know your hair is chemical”), that became a sought-after rarity. Now on a full-length album featuring four unreleased tracks, this is a sparkling snapshot of an overlooked diva. Some songs, like the rock operatic Master Of Passion (ska-punk meets Laura Branigan) have travelled less well, but most have an elegant flow – combining jagged, politically charged lyrics, sweet melody and a crashing backbeat. Stand-out tracks include lovers rock-influenced Take Your Chances, and Say It, the 1983 single recorded with her band Heavy Manners and produced by Peter Tosh.