New Wave of the ‘80s the Latest Rave : Pop Beat: As rock grows harder, rawer and more confessional, thirtysomethings are looking back to those old songs with perky beats and wacky lyrics.

Just when you thought the ‘80s and all its goofy trimmings were safely behind you, new wave--too obnoxious for even time itself to digest--has been spit back up.

Perky beats and wacky lyrics are alive and kicking on Rhino Records’ 15-volume collection of new wave cuts, while TV ads for mail-order CDs of ‘80s classics feature dorks bopping around to the Romantics’ “What I Like About You” and Toni Basil’s “Mickey.”

The reason for the resurgence? Well, you could use the crotchety and jaded angle: Kids today can’t invent anything new, which is why four decades of pop (lounge music, psychedelia, ‘70s rock and punk rock) have been rehashed in the past five years. But that theory can apply to just about any form of art at any time.

Maybe the renewed interest in new wave could be looked at as just one more source of kitsch for ultra-hipsters who are burned out on bell-bottoms and cocktail jackets. But such a small and elite circle surely wouldn’t fuel an entire resurgence.

The most likely explanation is that as rock grows harder, rawer and more confessional, nostalgia looks better and better to thirty-somethings, prodding fond memories of harmless, one-hit wonders such as Soft Cell and A Flock of Seagulls--bands that never complained about the perils of fame, dysfunctional families or Angst . They just entertained.

So new wave may simply be taking its predestined place as the classic rock of the ‘90s. Just as Zeppelin and Bob Seger proved a safe and familiar haven for change-resistant rockers in the ‘80s, Oingo Boingo and Modern English now serve that purpose a decade later.

David McLees, director of A&R; at Rhino Records, produced the label’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” series, 15 volumes of new wave hits that include such artists as Visage, Duran Duran, Devo and Heaven 17. “There are records of substance in there, like X, but more than anything this music is one-hit fun, not to be taken seriously,” he says. “It’s all about attitude and not really about content. Most of it is style over substance, and where there is substance, it’s rather subtle.”

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Fun or not, for some it’s far too soon for the goofy and light style to come back. Burying the decade seems preferable to reviving memories of clothing so loud it made Bozo the Clown look low key, and dance moves so cloddish and jerky they made tripping and falling look rhythmic. That’s not even mentioning the melt-in-your-mouth nature of the tunes themselves.

But if fashion follows on a large scale, it could be a dream come true for secondhand store owners who may finally clear those sleeveless T’s and Members Only jackets off the racks. On a street level, the oversized jackets, pointy shoes and layered hairdos of new bands such as D-Generation and Nancy Boy already reflect a sort of mutated ‘80s spirit, while fashion spreads in Mirabella and Vogue find models evolving out of baggy wear and boots and into pegged pants and spike heels.

But what about musical integrity? Well, it’s not as if upcoming albums of new material by new wave gods Adam Ant and Sparks are striving to echo the sounds of the era.

“(New wave) is not any less valid in terms of a musical era for entertainment,” says Rhino’s McLees, “but in terms of ‘lasting art,’ I don’t know that many great records came out around that time. It was a time for great singles.”

But that doesn’t seem to stop record buyers. “The volumes are selling beyond expectation,” McLees says. “We’ll probably end up doing more volumes, maybe even get up to Falco. That was actually one of the suggested titles for the volumes--’From Taco to Falco.’ ”

Don’t forget Total Coelo. On second thought, do .