Music is My Radar

Last weekend my wife and I watched The House of the Devil, which we both agreed is one of the best horror films we’ve seen in a long time.  (Given that we are both confirmed horror movie buffs, albeit with a regrettable lack of exposure to certain subsets of the horror movie genre, we have fairly high standards for scary stuff.  Sadly, not all movies we’ve seen recently meet our standards, although others do.)  If you haven’t seen The House of the Devil, I strongly encourage you to do so, especially if you have experience with horror films from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the “satanic panic” that gripped the U.S. in the 1980s.  I could go on about the quality of the movie; about how even the smallest elements of the film - from the props to the music to the camera angles and lighting - are near-perfect evocations of a bygone era of horror cinema.  But I’ll leave that to those more knowledgeable (or at least more opinionated).

Instead, I’ll focus on one aspect of the film, it’s authenticity.  Again, many elements of the film are so retro as to be reverential.  Indeed, at times it seems surprising that this movie was made in the 2000s and not the 1980s.  (At other points in the film, this is not so surprising, but again, I digress.)  This made me ponder - is there a musical equivalent to this film?  Not in content, mind you; I’m not talking about the many genres of music that lean toward the horrific.  Instead, I’m referring to albums or songs that so perfectly evoke the sound and feel of a particular genre or scene or time period that it almost sounds as though it was unearthed from a time capsule (hence this post’s title) and dusted off for the kids of today.

I can think of one good example.  (Sorry, Wolfmother - better luck next time.)  Admittedly, I’m a little biased here, because I know the lead singer/guitarist from his time employed here and here.  And I can personally attest that he’s a swell guy.  But really, I’ve spent a fair amount of time listening to the band’s first (and only) long-player, and I gotta say, it’s pretty effing brilliant.  (And I’m not the only one who thinks so.)

Here’s why.

1. You really have to appreciate Power Pop as a genre (and not just something to motivate you in the morning) to appreciate the differences between the early/mid-70s (i.e. pre-punk) bands and the late-70s/early-80s bands.  I won’t go into the differences here, but they are notable, mostly in tempo, attitude, and sound.  But just listen to a sample of the most popular bands of the various eras to get an idea of what I’m talking about. In a few short years, Power Pop went from this and this to this.  Gentleman Jesse’s record sounds exactly like those of the late-70s Power Pop bands - post-punk but pre-New Wave - such as the Nerves, Shoes, and the Records.  This is such a specific time period in a relatively narrow sub-genre of pop music - to pull it off and make a record sound really authentic to this time period is quite remarkable.
2. Not only that, it’s a really great record.  From the first song to the last, it’s quite consistent; there’s not a bad song on the album.  Don’t believe me?  Listen to it here.
3. If you needed any other proof, just have a look at the album cover.  Remind you of anything?

Biased or not, I’m impressed.  And this is huge relief for me, because I always worry when friends join bands or release music.  Given how picky I am in my listening habits, the likelihood of disappointment is rather high.  But that’s not an issue here.

So now I’ll open the floor to comments.  Can anyone else think of a good example of, oh, Time Capsule music, where the recordings sound literally exactly like something recorded in the era it favors, and not a modern homage?  I know that Jesse’s record isn’t the only example.  Anyone else?