The early 80's brought a number of English bands that composed artful, pretty songs that had little in common with either punk (not loud enough) or New Wave (not gay enough - even when they were gay). These bands were critics' darlings, and most have remained fairly obscure in the States. Few were as lauded yet unsuccessful as Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. I find their music, for all it's thoughtfulness and craft, to be relatively cold. That's not to say they didn't have their great moments (Rattlesnakes and its lead single "Perfect Skin"), but their retrospective 1984-1989 is more than sufficient. Cole continued solo and has recently recorded for Rykodisc.