How are they so cool?

I sorta get what you mean?

By whimsical stuff I meant things like this
youtu.be/Z70sl_noDuQ?t=68
It's almost too much. What do you even call that, a drop?

I relistened it... indeed it sounds atrocious, something like a ha or new order.
TfFs appeal is minimalism they ruined it

It's old, but it doesn't sound atrocious. It sounds good, especially if you listen to the whole thing. It's just really intense.

>What do you even call that, a drop?
It's the chorus. It's right where the chorus is. You started right in the middle of the pre-chorus, by the way. There's a rethorical gesture in that really sharp horn attack as a punctuation so that it cuts down to just the drums - which switch right on top keeping the hi hat pattern but changing the snare pattern underneath so it creates a weird fakeout - and sets it up so that when the next verse comes along, they've added a guitar on top of the synth bassline. There is something to be said about the way that arrangements are setup nowadays where that sort of deliberate, almost pointilistic style of arranging doesn't really exist anymore. A lot of what I described comes back later - the verse repeats with the same horn punctuation, the backing vocals which were super sparingly used start getting used more often and there's even a section where they're the lone vocals. The chorus comes back almost exactly at 2:34 - and actually get extended! - and the turnaround for the verse is the intro!

Thinking of Tears for Fears as "cool, sophisticated music" kinda misses their point - they were always a super maximalist, super sharp live band with extraordinarily well written pop, but the thing with their studio recordings is the sheer space, which is really what makes Seeds of Love such a hard album to listen to - a maximalist pop band on that little space is suffocating. It's the same problem with XTC's Orange and Lemons.

Awesome post. Yeah I goofed. It is obviously the chorus and it repeats, if forgot that it repeats despite it being stuck in my head. I just thought it was a good example of one of their sharp weird things they do. It's also not like it comes out of nowhere, it fits the rest of the song.

I only know Every Wants to Rule World. What other tracks are good?

Like user said, anything from The Hurting or Songs from the Big Chair is good.
Did you know they did the original version of this
youtu.be/u1ZvPSpLxCg
it might sound weird

Honestly I'd say their entire work is good, but I can't know what songs you'll like until you listen to it. I think the songs on Seeds of Love are stunning, it's just that album is stupid difficult to listen to for extended periods of time.

I think that you can absolutely "do something like that these days without looking like a self indulgent sperg", so to speak, it's just that the style has gone out of favor and now it's primarily dominated by very minimal arrangements.

But what band is sophisticated and cool pop music then?

Everything but the Girl, Prefab Sprout, Sade, Simply Red - really anything that falls under "Sophisti-pop", so to speak. There was a moment in the 80's in pop music where the idea of bringing that sophistication and cool to pop music was very much happening. It overlaps with new wave and synthpop but the UK was a puddle - everyone was trying to outstage one another because the 80's were a technological rat race and you can trace a history of 80's music in the UK just by looking at the actual technological aspects and why the Synthesizer Arms Race was in full swing.

Wow just checked everything but the girl
Sounds very good and chiseled
Great taste

>sophistipop
>no PSB on sight
how did you forget to name the Pet Shop Boys my man.