The Vapors

Formed in Guildford, Surrey, The Vapors emerged in the late 1970s in the wake of the British new wave scene. Their songwriting blended power pop, nervous rock and short, taut melodies, often driven by a tension between an immediate hook and a darker undercurrent. The quartet—David Fenton, Edward Bazalgette, Steve Smith and Howard Smith—quickly drew notice by playing dates with The Jam, with Bruce Foxton helping to raise their profile. After a first single in 1979, The Vapors released "Turning Japanese" in 1980, a song that firmly established the band's name, followed the same year by the album New Clear Days. Magnets appeared in 1981 as a tenser, darker record, and the band split in 1982. Long associated with the early-1980s English new wave aesthetic, The Vapors resumed activities in 2016 with David Fenton and Steve Smith, later joined by Michael Bowes and Danny Fenton, leading to Together (2020) and Wasp in a Jar (2025), which continue the band's style of angular pop, chiming guitar and concise energy.