Album Review: 'Ugly Beautiful'

Old-timers such as Echo & the Bunnymen are reviving new wave, but on his first album, Baby Bird’s Stephen Jones has trumped them. Sounding like an updated version of a John Hughes film soundtrack, Ugly retains the portentous vocals of that ’80s band, but leavens them with a surreal, off-kilter wit and an endless supply of hooks. B+