By Keith Walsh
The year 1984 conjures up vivid memories. If not the Orwell novel, then more pleasant ones – Patrick Nagel illustrations, glittery Converse sneakers, glamorous chanteuses, pulsing synth beats. The British synthpop band Taurus 1984, led by Alastair Jenkins and Bobby Cole,  bring all of that magic to 2022 with masterful tracks that evoke the era perfectly. On their upcoming album, due for release this Spring, Taurus 1984 will feature five outstanding vocalists: Shellyann, Karl Lewis, Dana Jean Phoenix, Jeris Spencer and Laura Jayne Davies.

Here’s their latest single, “Someone Like You.”

Listening, I expected Deniece Williams or Whitney Houston to show up. With all the power of a souped up ‘84 Ford Mustang, Taurus 1984 present slick, high octane synth pop tunes featuring top notch female vocals and slick electronic tracks, masterfully produced. The recent tunes and upcoming album are mixed by synthwave master Michael Oakley. In an email exchange, band founder and guitarist/synthesist Jenkins told me about the band’s origins and future direction. I asked him if there were any risks of choosing such a specific sound to start with?

“What we do is what we love,” he wrote. “I don’t ever want to put a bracket or become confined to a box of being era specific. I love the 80’s sound and stylistically I find it so exciting. This project will always be influenced by that. However I also love modern pop music and I think the amalgamation of the two genres is really exciting and a great match. I think you need to keep evolving. I really like the idea of keeping a foot in the past while the other is in the present. The synthwave genre is a growing subculture — albeit a smaller niche genre, however you can see it infiltrating modern pop culture at a rate of knots. Look at Stranger Things, Lady Gaga, Coca Cola adverts – they are all borrowing from this ever growing and extremely cool subculture.”

Recording in Cubase, Jenkins and his colleague Cole use a variety of hardware synths and VSTs to create their sound. Jenkins explains: “We use a mix of vintage gear and VSTs. WE have an original Roland Juno 106, Yamaha DX7 (my heart belongs to the electric piano patch), DX27, Korg M1, a Fender Rhodes MK1, a Wurlie with a giant Leslie – it’s a lot of fun– an Arp Explorer, and few other vintage synths. These are great and super handy to have in the studio for inspiration, and we’ve used the whole range on a lot of our forthcoming record. VSTs in all honesty are a wonderful way of saving money (when would we ever be able to afford a Fairlight CMI?) and time. They are so great for recording and for ease of use – no routing or crackling, dodgy pots (which is definitely a big part of the charm, too. The quirks!) On the first two albums, it was mainly VST use and heavily Juno 106 based. With Modern Romance, we’ve tried to expand our range off synths and instruments. We also have a forthcoming track with a real string quartet, there’s a boat load of saxophone on there too.”

Taurus 1984’s latest work is slick, polished, and catchy —they’ve come a long way since the first record, which Jenkins pretty much played and recorded on his own. By bringing in collaborators, the sound of the project expanded. “Bobby has been working in the recording industry for many years so the level of professionalism that he brought to the table was really noticeable,” Jenkins told me. “The other massive change was the shift to creating full vocal records—the first album was heavily instrumental. For Dream Warriors, I really wanted it to be a full vocal record, which added a whole new element to the process, involving more musicians and collaborators.”

The sounds of Taurus 1984 are in the blood of it’s creators. “I was actually born in  May of 1984,” said Jenkins, “hence the group’s name. Bob and I both grew up in the tail end of the 80s. It captivated our formative minds with its wonderful aesthetic. We really appreciate many facets of the era. The the music, the film and the art of that time, we try to reference that as much as we possibly can while also bringing elements of modern pop to create something we feel is unique, synth pop with modern sensibilities played through a retrospective lens.”

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