Flaunt the Imperfection – China Crisis (1985)

November 7, 2025

Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon met as kids at a Catholic school in England, where they bonded over a shared love of artists like Steely Dan, Brian Eno, and David Bowie. As they aged into their late teens, they bounced around a number of different bands in the local post-punk scene, with Daly playing bass and Lundon on guitar. But at the beginning of the 1980s, the duo found themselves more and more drawn to the synth pop acts that were getting a lot of radio air play –  including Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – and began writing their own music after purchasing a synthesizer and drum machine. So in 1982, now under the name China Crisis, they released their debut album – Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It’s Fun to Entertain – which would reach #21 on the British pop chart and include a hit single in “Christian.”

Building upon the momentum gained from their first album, and propelled further by a tour with Simple Minds, China Crisis scored another successful release with 1983’s Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two (brevity clearly wasn’t their strong suit with album titles). And this time, the duo had even managed to make their mark overseas, with “Working with Fire and Steel” landing at #27 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. Having proven that their success was no fluke and that they could score a hit song in the US, the band caught the eye of one of their childhood heroes – Steely Dan’s Walter Becker, who had split up with Donald Fagen a few years prior and began focusing exclusively on production work. And after meeting with Becker, they agreed that not only would he produce their next release, but they would also list him as an official member of the band as credit for his instrumental work in the studio.

Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon

Due in large part to Becker’s excellence as a producer, Flaunt the Imperfection would go on to become China Crisis’ most successful album to date – reaching #9 in the UK and #171 in the US. It’s very clear throughout the album just how inspired these guys were by Steely Dan, as “You Did Cut Me,” “Bigger the Punch I’m Feeling,” and “The World Spins, I’m Part of It” all include moments that feel like they could have come directly out of the Dan’s catalogue. And on top of the litany of homages to one of their favorite bands, you can also hear the Bowie influence throughout a lot of this record, most notably on “Wall of God.” But aside from paying tribute to their childhood heroes, it’s clear that Daly and Lundon are grappling with some big picture existential questions in the lyrics of nearly every track. “Strength of Character,” “Gift of Freedom,” “The World Spins, I’m Part of It,” and “Blue Sea” all grapple with ideas like personal freedom, individuality, nostalgia, and finding one’s place in the world. They also present a very spiritual thematic throughline and several direct references to God on “Black Man Ray,” “Wall of God,” “Gift of Freedom,” and “King in a Catholic Style” – the last of which also seems to take direct aim at Ronald Reagan as “the presidential elect man” with a “big money business smile.”

Walter Becker in the studio

China Crisis is another quietly excellent band who did fairly well commercially, but never quite became a household name (particularly in the US). But what they were able to do in many ways was honor their childhood and the artists who inspired them. You really can’t dream up a better scenario as a kid than being able to write songs with your best friend, use your favorite musicians as a springboard for your own work, make some money, and even get to collaborate with one of your heroes (twice as it would turn out, as Becker would return to co-produce their fifth album in 1989). Despite the fact that they would tack on two more releases in 1994 and 2015, China Crisis is a prime example of an indie pop group who would live and die with the 1980s. But in their five albums released over just seven years, they were able to not only demonstrate their abilities as a truly excellent band, but also experience life in a way that would make their childhood selves beam with joy – and that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.