Information Society

I first came across Information Society when their S/T LP was on the radio, perhaps hitting the top 40 IIRC... I remembered liking their sound and liked synth-pop and new wave, but they were always a bit more on the dance end of things. Later on, a friend from school (was about 13 at the time) shared Hack on cassette and I liked them even more. Now, over 25 years later, as I'm digging into freestyle and the Funhouse sounds of NY, I'm finding myself revisiting them again and realizing there was a lot more out there, and that their sound wasn't unique at that time. I'm listening to Noel's Silent Morning and that could have been dropped side by side cuts off of this LP, but then again there was production work by the Latin Rascals, Chep Nunez & Louie Vega all with the intent to give them that sound. I am finding that my interest current in freestyle is partially attributed to these guys. They took that sound internationally, I wasn't in Brazil but obviously they had some impact there with this one.

I didn't really follow these guys after Hack, but their earlier material still is held close to my heart, listening to "Running" while clicking out these keystrokes...

When "What's On Your Mind" came out in 1988, I was 7 years old, and to this day it is one of the first songs I can remember listening to. Obviously, being so young, I couldn't fully appreciate the song, but I was fascinated by that mechanical, drum machine sound. Years later I rediscovered InSoc and it hit me how much of an influence they really had on me. I don't know what I'd be listening to now if I was never exposed to them at that age. Thank you InSoc!! In the late 80s and early 90s, InSoc was one of the more original synthpop acts, but never really achieved long-term mainstream success. This led to a certain underground appeal and many of their tracks were played out by freestyle, new wave and electro DJ's, with plenty of remixes making their way into the market. 1992 was probably the pinnacle for the band as they released the seminal "Peace & Love, Inc." and found moderate success with a more polished, produced synthpop sound. While it seemed like InSoc could do no wrong at this point, unfortunately, the band didn't do much after this release and eventually went their own ways. Five years later, Kurt resurrected the InSoc name with the out-of-character "Don't Be Afraid" in 1997. This album alienated many one-time fans for its completely different and more brutal sound, but I think it's an incredible release personally and went totally underneath the radar. 1999 saw a bland remix album appear on Cleopatra, but that was it - InSoc as we knew them was over. However... 8 years later, when it was least expected, Paul Robb announced the rebirth of the band, with a new vocalist and an updated sound appealing more to the freestyle/electro crowd than the traditional synthpop/new wave crowd. It remains to be seen how this new incarnation will fare, but it is an exciting time to be an InSoc fan, because they are touring again and hopefully will get Kurt back into the lineup for new material.