The Luxury Gap

Two refugees from the Human League went hard left on their first record (subtly titling their debut single “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”) and, despite adopting a brighter, more radio-friendly sound on album number two, didn’t make many political concessions to the BBC censors. Leadoff track “Crushed by the Wheels of Industry” is a strident proto-industrial anti-capitalist manifesto. Their two biggest hits represent opposite extremes from each other: melancholy breakup bop “Let Me Go” taps into Wang Chung’s not-fun side while “Temptation” goes full seventies soul (with synthesizers) to express what got the narrator in trouble in the first place. Cradle of Filth later covered the latter, a true testament to its hedonistic power. Heaven 17 crossed The Luxury Gap from disposable to delightful here.