by Tim SendraMontt Mardié is the solo creation of Swedish '80s music obsessive David Pagmar, and Drama is his debut album. From the corny synths, machine-driven Northern soul drumbeats, out of control falsetto vocals, and completely fake-sounding production to the sticky-sweet lead vocals that are delivered with a teenager's sense of distorted reality, the record is a tribute to the some of the best pure pop music of the '80s like Wham! ("Changed [A Sailor's Plea]"), Haircut 100 ("Modesty Blaise"), Aztec Camera ("How to Kill a Mockingbird"), and the Lilac Time ("Bag of Marbles," "Come on Eileen"). Pagmar doesn't merely ape the sounds of the era, though -- he totally inhabits them, and instead of sounding like a tired pastiche, Drama actually sounds like a hidden gem from the era itself. A track like "High School Drama," with its killer hooks, amazingly high vocals, and endearingly silly spoken interlude, could have easily fit into the playlis...