It's that time of year when my friends start posting pics of their sons and daughters heading out to their junior and senior proms. Living as an adult in the place where you grew up provides plenty of opportunity for nostalgia; and, while I like to think I'm not as wedded to the past as lots of people my age, sometimes I get in a mood.
Today, so far, has been one of those theme days. The theme: Remind CoolDad of the late-80s when he started driving while listening to cassettes he'd made on his integrated tuner / turntable / dual cassette deck and when he -- yes -- went to his own senior prom.
Superchunk frontman, Mac McCaughan, started streaming the first-ever album he's put out under his own name today over at NPR. It's interesting that someone who has been such a huge influence on the music I've listened to since the 1990s -- through his band and his label, Merge Records -- would put out a record so deeply rooted in the sounds of my teen years. Don't get me wrong. There are definitely cuts like "Box Battery" that stick a little more closely to McCaughan's usual loud, power pop; but the synths and post-punk are strong here.
Earlier today, I came across the video for "Lonely Town" by Killers frontman, Brandon Flowers. It's from his upcoming second solo LP. The song is pure 80s synth pop, and the video features a cassingle, a walkman, and an allusion to the 80s-style horror movies that my friends and I spent many a late night watching in the early years of cable TV.
Finally, early this morning, I read an article from The Guardian about an upcoming show in London from a band called Mexrrissey. Apparently, in Mexico and Latin America, there is a thriving Morrissey / Smiths subculture; and Mexrrissey are one of the standard-bearers of the Spanish-language Morrissey tribute scene. The band bring the sounds of mariachi music to Smiths and Morrissey classics producing something amazing.
The two songs Mexrissey have on their Soundcloud page -- "Ask" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday" -- are hugely important ones to me, personally. The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs remained lodged in my 1980 Tercel's cassette deck for months at a time. "Everyday Is Like Sunday" is one of the songs that I always end up playing when noodling around on my guitar, and Viva Hate -- Moz's first post-Smiths effort -- also contains the amazing "Suedehead."
So, that's where my mind is at today in case you were wondering.
Enjoy prom season.
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