by Jerry LoFaro
Creating with cohorts is a delicate dance of ideas, will and egos. That ineffable thing that leads to music arises from both camaraderie and frustration, and the productive sparks and tension they generate seem impossible for a band to sustain over the long haul. So it should be said that The Fixx having found a line-up that consistently feeds the muse is a major feat for a crew that’s been around since 1979.
The Fixx have witnessed all the changes in pop culture in the decades since their inception and weathered everything by sticking to a pop-new wave sound that has come to define their era. They have consistently toured and released records, the last of which is 2022’s Every Five Seconds, an album heralded as energetic and reminiscent of the band’s oeuvre without sounding overly nostalgic. Timeless, in other words. That would be impressive for most journeyman rockers, let alone the ones who have stayed nose to the grind touring and recording as they close in on half a century together.
Foundational members Cy Curnin on vocals, Adam Woods on drums, Rupert Greenall on keyboards and Jamie West-Oram on guitars, with early ’80s recruit Dan K. Brown on bass, know what it is they do and they do it well. That’s the thing about finding a core of creative collaborators with a consistent conception: It doesn’t happen often, and even when it does the camaraderie tends at some point to succumb to the frustration. But The Fixx have kept the relationships intact to commendable effect.
They’ve also stayed in the game by keeping their foundational hits — “Stand or Fall,” “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Saved by Zero,” “Red Skies” — in circulation on film and television. Yet licensing alone doesn’t explain The Fixx outlasting so many MTV-generation peers (and MTV itself as a meaningful force in music). A veteran band that carries on making new music might object to having a latter-day tour cast as a victory lap, but it’s no slight to say The Fixx won the ’80s.
The Fixx play 7pm Sunday, July 19 at Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. thefixx.com ~ Tim Moffatt
