The return of electroclash

It's back and trashier than ever

For about five minutes back in 2001 (or was it 2002? our memory is a haze of mirrored club bathrooms and Red Bull-soaked shiny shirts), it seemed like electroclash was the Next Big Thing. Everyone was all excited about Peaches, Princess Superstar (pictured) and Fischerspooner, and you couldn't go to a club in America without hearing the DJ drop that stupid song about how everyone wants to be Hollywood ("on a big hill, you know—like 90210"). But just when you thought it was safe to hit the dance floor again, electroclash is back—and why not? It's fair to say that without electroclash's love-it-or-hate-it mix of '80s-inspired dance music, sleazy lyrics, kitschy fashion and hipster-approved irony, everything from Lady GaGa to Baltimore club music wouldn't exist.

Here are nine icons of electroclash's heyday whose well-timed return to action in 2009 ought to catch the attention of a new generation of fashion-conscious club kids.—Andy Hermann, Metromix

(Did we leave out your favorite electroclash artist? Let us know about it in the comments section.)