The Wayfarers - World's Fare (Reissue) (1986/2018)

This talented New York group, with their not particularly fashionable blend of alternative guitar rock, breezy European chanteuse pop, and cinematic arrangements using trumpet, flugelhorn, and various brass and wind instruments, was lost in the indie shuffle in the mid-'80s. Their sole album, World's Fare, was only released in Europe.

Strong original material and interesting covers of tunes by the Buzzcocks and Love, paced by guitarists/principal songwriters Cary Berger and Ken Kaufman and the coolly measured vocals (in the spirit of Francoise Hardy) of Shari Becknar. Wistful, inventively arranged tunes with inventive production and a sense of fun, stalking the seldom-explored territory between conventional rock and torch songs in the European popular tradition.