Only having heard "Our Lips Are Sealed", I'd imagined that the Go-Go's would be pretty bubblegum if likely peppy with it, but actually there's a pleasing toughness to their sound - more Blondie than Bananarama - and particularly on the bonus live set that accompanies this 30th anniversary reissue (the album originally came out in 1981). And, in fact, Beauty and the Beat is just all-round good. (Plus, I've now learned that Belinda Carlisle of "Heaven is a Place on Earth", "Summer Rain" and "Leave a Light On" - not that I knew the name of that last before coincidentally hearing it in jb just the other day - fame was their singer.)
