Hey, I think I coined a new music descriptor!

Check out tomorrow’s Sound Bites column to see if you can spot it. Maybe there’ll be a prize!

In other news, I chatted with the boys in Carrigan last night, in preparation for an upcoming feature. Their sophomore CD, Young Men Never Die, lands soon; the release party is on May 5 at Club Metronome.

So, we got to talkin’ about this and that, and the subject of ’80s retro bands came up.

It’s my opinion that a lot of these new acts only emulate a tiny sliver of ’80s music. Not coincidentally, it’s often the the easiest stuff to bash out.

So what of all the other “Sounds of the ’80s?” Lord knows Tears for Fears‘ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is synonomous with the decade. But nobody ever tries to crib that sound. You know why? Because it’s too well composed and arranged!

And I’m hardly a TFF fan. I don’t care for XTC, either. It’s just an observation. Shit, most of these synth-rock come-latelys couldn’t write something as hip as Thomas Dolby‘s “She Blinded Me With Science!”

Speaking of the ’80s, Here’s Culture Club’s cover of David Bowie’s “Starman.”

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Casey Rea was the Seven Days music editor from 2004 until 2007. He won the 2005 John D. Donoghue award for arts criticism from the Vermont Press Association.

6 replies on “Stuff and stuff.”

  1. You are so right about that mr. rae! I’ve actually pondered the same thing myself from time to time…Sure there’s lotsa Joy Division / Psychedelic Furs / Smiths-y sounding bands…But why no Rick Astley? There is one band though that I got a promo of last year that DOES sound like those less-hip 80’s synth bands…they’re called Elkland…don’t know if you’ve heard ’em (they’re not really that great)…but they do kinda sound like Tears For Fears…http://elkland.net.You likey my sexxxy video?

  2. It’s great that you bring this up, Casey. It’s just like in the 80’s when “classic rock” had just been invented as this soft-serv blend of 60s & 70s music which has been completely bled white by stations like WIZN, overplaying tired old classics and leaving out a lot of amazing music of the era. These days “The Eighties” has been defined as an ironic hairspray party for hipster 20-somethings (spoken like a true hipster 30-something, I know…).People forget about songs like that though, and how a lot of the best 80s production created amazing, I dunno… soundscapes (?) through their meticulous and creative arranging. It almost makes me think the best use of a new musical technology happens right off the bat, before it gets into the hands of the world’s yayhoos. Now all you have to do is throw in some “Eighties” signifier and you’re all copping the supposed genre of an era.

  3. I thought TFF were still around. Didn’t they have a new album out last year? Perhaps bands feel akward copying a band that is still creating new material.Unrelated note…Gnarls Barkley’s “St. Elsewhere” is crazy delicious.

  4. “Momthrobs”??? Ha! I like it. It reminds me of the line from The Kids In the Hall…”Greatest Hits albums are for moms and little girls.”

  5. You win Murf!But what, I dunno… My admiration, perhaps?Kids In the Hall? Hmmm. I remember a “housewives & little girls” line from Bruce McCulloch’s solo comedy album, though. I think it was the “Doors Fan” track. Love it.Here’s another: “Pop quiz: Who’s playing bass? No one. The Doors have no bass. Just like the Gypsies have no homes. Don’t let that scare you — let it free you, man! ‘Cause when you’re free-flyin’ with The Doors, you don’t need no safety net!”

  6. I had thought it was from his work on KitH but I’m not positive. It could have been from his solo work.

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