Outside of "Reagan-omics" and a few hiccups and bumps in the pop-culture road, there aren't too many bad things that we can say about the '80s. We spent our youngest and most formative years fighting for the radio-dial and cassette privileges with our older brothers, arguing that the Crüe were indeed better than Depeche Mode, (boy, were we wrong...), when, in fact, they both rocked in their own separate ways. In a funny twist of fate, we now often find ourselves in the exact same battle. But this time we're on the opposite side of the argument. Today, there's very little that we can find wrong with any of Depeche Mode's voluminous catalog—they were genius and have literally created a genre, more or less. Really, what we're trying to say is that regardless of which band's catalog was bigger and more prevalent at the time, or later in the future, the '80s were a phenomenal time for music—particularly music with synthesizers.

And today, many artists are digging out those old "analog" machines to tamper with them and relearn the tricks of the trade that were lost and passed on in the age of digital sampling and backing tracks. One such group is just now breaking ground. They are Moscow's Tesla Boy, a synth-driven pop quartet. And, although you can follow their musical heritage back to the days of New Wave, et al. like you could follow the breed-stock of a prize-winning pony back to it's greatest-grandfather, there is very little one could say to take away from the sheer, dreamy sensationalism of their music.

We would argue that great music, regardless of its obvious predecessors and influences, is timeless. If Whitney Houston were to have released "How Will I Know" in the summer of 2009, instead of the summer of 1985, there is very little doubt in our minds that that song would have hit the top of the charts in record time today. Just like it did in '85. It was a product of its time, no doubt, and it owed much to its predecessors. But regardless, it was one hell of a track. In much the same way, Tesla Boy has managed to completely capture a sound so perfectly created in the dreamy cloud-pop of 1980s Southern California; complete with Malibu sunsets, rushing waves, and denim jacket-clad, Porsche-driving, awe-inspiring blondes. But they've done more than just capture the sound. They've managed to make new songs that are just as relevant today as they would have been back then. Which is that much more impressive when you think about the fact that they are from Russia and almost 20 years behind the original synth wave.

We like to think of Tesla Boy's "Runaway Man" as our own personal Way-Back Machine, letting our imaginations run, helping us to take comfort in our dreams. So go ahead press play, put it on repeat, and sit back and dream of what it was like to be a kid, feet buried in the sand, sitting on the beach at sunset with your car stereo soothing your troubled mind, and your best girl just an arm's-length away...