NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #14
A spirited-but-not-initimidating rock 'n roll lifestyle brand!
Dear readers, ‘tis I. You know, the guy who writes this newsletter. Welcome to this later-than-usual edition of New Music for Olds. Cozy up to your laptop or handheld device with that special someone.
NOTE: My schedule was super wonky this week and I’m reasonably certain this week’s newsletter is riddled with typos. Apologies in adance!1
Here’s what I gots today:
New New Romanticism
World weary adult prog
A cover song that will definitely…(wait for it)…linger
David Grohl, the Mikhail Gorbachev of Rock
But first…A MOST SPECIAL OFFER!
For the next week, anyone who clicks the link below will receive 60 days of honorary Paid Membership! That means you’ll be getting NMFO every week. As you’ll see, the Paid Version is a bit different, with me diving into weird genres and obscure artists I’ve never gotten around to. Plus, thematic playlists and weird video clips. It’s all one click away!
And now, we ride.
GOOD STUFF
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, “When the Lights Go”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: When the Lights Go
Nutshell: Classic early 80’s synth-pop
Voltage: 4
Nutshell: This sounds like the very early days of MTV, when American rock bands still scoffed at music video, so a disproportionate amount of programming was devoted to dolled up “New Romantics” blankly lip-synching over drum machines and layers of synth. Even if that era holds no retro appeal for you, “When the Lights Go” is a super catchy tune that will feel instantly familiar (in a good way). Me, I’m going to apply some lip gloss and strike a very dramatic pose.
Pairing Suggestion: Sucking in your cheeks so hard it hurts
Never forget
Lonely Robot, “A Model Life”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: A Model Life
Nutshell: Tasteful adult prog
Voltage: 5
Thoughts: Lonely Robot is a solo project by a guitarist/producer John Mitchell, who’s played in a bunch of (apparently) respected UK contemporary prog rock bands. I’d never heard of Mitchell, but I’ll definitely do some digging now. If the word “prog” scares you, don’t worry. This particular song is straightforward adult alternative, in the vein of Elbow or mainstream Peter Gabriel—in fact, the this entire album leans heavily on PG’s classic electric piano sound. Musically and lyrically, “A Model Life” is the work of a full-fledged adult, which I realize can be construed as either a compliment or an insult. But sometimes it’s refreshing to hear an artist who’s just comfortable in his own skin.
Pairing Suggestion: Wanting to call an estranged family member, but then not doing it
Lake Street Drive, “Linger”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Fun Machine: The Sequel
Nutshell: Blue-eyed soul cover of a 90’s alt rock fave
Voltage: 5
Thoughts: Is it cheating to recommend a cover song? Is that a betrayal of NMFO’s raison d’etre—namely, to inspire in you the simple-but-not-insignificant pleasure of discovering new music? If so…consider this my grand betrayal! JE NE REGRETTE RIEN! This take on “Linger”, by respected jazz-soul outfit Lake Street Drive, reimagines the Cranberries’ alt-rock ballad as bouncy 80’s radio pop, a la Hall & Oates. As I’ve said in the Paid-Only version of NMFO, the best cover songs celebrate the elasticity of good songwriting—the melody is strong enough to endure a complete change in tone and arrangement. No need to over-intellectualize this, though—just enjoy!
Pairing Suggestion: Dancing with your pet
I need you approval. Or scorn. Or ambivalence. Give it to me now.
And while we’re at it…
SOME BULLSHIT
As you may have heard, Foo Fighters hosted the first of two Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts on September 3rd at London’s Wembley Stadium. Hawkins, the band’s affable drummer since 1997, passed away on March 25th.
Instead of cutting-and-pasting a rundown of the whos, whats, and whys (you can get that from a reliable news source), I wanted to offer some jumbled thoughts about the concert and, moreover, Dave Grohl’s place in our shared musical universe.
Dave Grohl: An Argument with Myself
Dave Grohl is one of my favorite drummers—one of the ten best in modern rock history, I’d argue. He’s also written a some solid arena rock songs, including two stone-cold classics (“Everlong” and “My Hero”). But when the ink dries, Grohl’s greatest impact may be, for better or worse, as the Mikhail Gorbachev of Rock and Roll—the guy tasked with shepherding a once-dominant cultural phenomenon to…whatever it is now.
Purely on musical terms, I kinda wish he’d stayed behind the drum kit. That may sound absurd to Foo Fighters fans, to say nothing of Grohl’s accountant—I’ll never quite understand why millions around the world pile into stadiums to hear blandly competent tunes like “Times Like These” and “Learn to Fly”, but they clearly do. And that’s okay—bands have filled stadiums playing worse. It’s Phase 3 of Dave Grohl’s professional life that has me truly conflicted.
I’m not sure precisely when it happened, but at some point Dave Grohl became the Official Ambassador of Rock and Roll. Not sure how it went down, whether he was privately knighted by Jann Wenner or baptized in a pool of Keith Richards’ backwash. But there’s rarely a Hall of Fame induction ceremony or rock documentary that doesn’t feature Grohl reverently proclaiming someone or other to be a rock god—or more likely, a “fucking rock god”, so you know he’s not square. In your face, Authority!
You can probably sense from my tone that I find it a bit tedious. But why? Doesn’t Rock deserve a cheerleader? I certainly can’t think of anyone better for the role. Grohl’s fandom never seems phony—he seems motivated on a cellular level to turn people on to the music that inspired him. How is his musical evangelism different than what I’m attempting to do with this newsletter (only a much larger, faaaaar more successful scale)?
I dunno, maybe it’s that all the gushing reverence Grohl hurls at his idols tends to reduce to rock to some fossilized meme designed to give you “all the feels” . It’s an odd dichotomy—to couch one’s love of often obscure Classic Rock tracks in the foamy hyperbole of an Instagram comment (“OMG this performance of 2112, Pt. II: The Temples of Syrinx is EVERYTHING!!!!!”). It’s certainly not how Kurt would have done it, maaaaan.
Maybe that’s the elephant in the room that is my brain—Foo Fighters’ brand of irony-free enthusiasm stands in direct opposition to the phase of his career that provides most of Grohl’s “cred”. I’m not saying that the Nirvana’s jaundiced approach negates the chummy bonhomie of Foo Fighters, but the dissonance is hard to ignore. Not incidentally, Taylor Hawkins was probably the pivot point. The 1995 video for “Big Me” (you know, the Mentos one) made it clear that Grohl was a charting a more lighthearted course, but it was when Hawkins joined the band that Foo Fighters fully evolved into a funny-but-not-trenchant, spirited-but-not-intimidating rock ‘n roll lifestyle brand.
Is that an unfair way to classify a band that also features Sunny Day Real Estate’s bassist and the guitarist from the Germs? Perhaps!
Allow me to balance out all this faint praise by saying that the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium was the my favorite filmed concert event in over a decade. Furthermore, Foo Fighters are the only band in the world that could have pulled it off. This was less a tribute to Taylor Hawkins the drummer than it was to Taylor Hawkins the music fan. Try as I might, I find it hard to be cynical about that.
The concert was a risky proposition, requiring buy-in not just from the Classic Rock firmament (McCartney, Queen), but also from the audience, who paid top dollar to watch a lot of lower-prestige artists they either barely remember or never knew in the first place. There’s no commercial reason to foist Jeff Buckley non-hits and a James Gang reunion(?!) on 90,000 unsuspecting ticket-holders. You only do it is because you believe Hawkins would have thought it was cool. What an admirable way for Grohl to spend some of his social capital.
If you have Paramount Plus, you can watch the almost-entire event, which is and exhaustive-but skimmable 4.5 hours. Casuals may prefer the 1 hour "highlights" version that aired on CBS, even though it strips away most of the interesting stuff in favor or low-hanging Boomer Bait. There are also clips galore on YouTube.
The second Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert is September 27th. Much of the announced lineup is the same, but given that’s in LA instead of London, the additions/subtractions have me anticipating a slightly cornier evening. Goodbye Supergrass, hello Nikki Sixx! (sigh). Still, I’ll be watching.
So where are we on David Grohl? Pro? Con? Is this just a lazy attempt at engagement?
Okie-doke, that’s what I have today. Please do let people know about NMFO. I wouldn’t say my signup rate has plateaued, but a junior high kid just giggled and called my Substack analytics a “Carpenter’s Dream”.
As always, thanks for reading!
You’re right, I am hilarious.
Covers? Yes! Other takes on old favourites are very welcomed by these ears. I’ve got a Spotify playlist solely from covers and love it!
I think what you’re describing is basically the new (‘90s-era) Bono -- ever-present, enthused, and kinda signifying nothing. And he’ll be all over the historical record on modern rock music, along with Henry Rollins and journalist David Fricke. I can’t hate his earnestness, because it does seem so genuine, but I also don’t really want any of whatever he’s selling.