Drinking In L.A. * Steal My Sunshine * In The Meantime * Get What You Give * Novocaine For The Soul

Went with “Drinking in LA” but love “Steal My Sunshine” and “You Get What You Give” almost as much.

What a weird song Drinking In L.A. is for a hit.

I cant even remember the Spacehog song

it's good!

but definitely the first two songs are the nucleus of this vibe. why no more late-90s sunny hip-pop one-hit wonders?

Sunny D music

OMC - How Bizarre probably also belongs here, even though it's shit

nothing more sunny and lighthearted than Eels's "Novocaine for the Soul" imo

i like the lighthearted bit that goes

You'd better give me something
So I don't die

don't giv a shit about lyrics me

How Bizarre is definitely in there. Scooby Snacks?

How Bizarre is perfect because it's definitely 'European people pretending to be American'. Scooby Snacks is 'Americans who made it bigger in Europe'

I think OMC were from New Zealand?

OMC aren't yurpean fyi xp

why do I know this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMC_(band)

oh shit, no they weren't were they? I had that song on a comp called 'Eurodance 94' when I was a teenager and that's where I got that impression

Sort-of honourable mention but not really: Cake - The Distance

At the time I really liked the New Radicals song and the Len one. Bran Van 3000 and Spacehog are unfamiliar to me (perhaps I would recognise them if I heard them). The Eels one I was indifferent to at the time but it was playing as background music somewhere I went the other day and I thought it was much better than I remembered it.

I think 'Susan's House' is actually more in tune with this vibe than 'Novocaine', lyrical content notwithstanding ofc

No no no no no
'get what you give' is an absolute travesty, should be a Ronan Keating song

'meantime' is a stone cold classic, sound of the summer, idst, \m/ etc etc

also 'drinking in la' is ace

'get what you give' is an absolute travesty, should be a Ronan Keating song

! oh no kinder !

Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out by Freak Power

glad you like 'in the meantime' though :-)

Went with "Steal My Sunshine" as it's literally my #10 favourite song of the 1990s (last time I made such a list), Bran Van coming in at #41. Top tip: these two songs' parent albums are great too, if you like your albums to be genre-busting messy party fun.

for some reason this thread has made me think of alabama 3 - ain't going to goa, and i'm not entirely happy about it tbh

this qualifies and is sadly not by the bleepy techno outfit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1dfEf1qOt4

it is also terrible, sorry everyone

Always got a slight Steely Dan vibe from the New Radicals song (which is why it's so excellent, obv) - the Dan still the gold standard for transplanted-to-LA-malcontent-pop

Just realised 'How Bizarre' and 'Brimful of Asha' are basically the same song - does it count?

Colleague and I have wasted a busy morning trying to nail this aesthetic. This is the longlist, which contains a lot of songs I really hate and I'm going to have to prune: https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/0YGB95CsfnRRPdNqbDECfO?si=gTl8DWNOTYCTY23pMvSRXA

Gonna try to nail this aesthetic as:

- period of roughly '94 - 2000 with some exceptions
- funky/hip-hop influenced pop/rock but not firmly entrenched in any particular camp
- usually a one or two-hit wonder
- more of ten than not contains some lo-pass filter radio chatter or speakover
- could be American, but sounds more like people copying US music and getting it a bit wrong (even if they do turn out to be American)

Given these parameters, I've boiled it down to this shorter playlist (which eschews some of the songs listed above): https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/3xGgyNUisgkVLUj6C0vZqI?si=FG6TLEWaQFaJhW9xsoe2TA

'nail this aesthetic'

(shoots self)

Voted 'Drinking In LA' It has to be in my Top 500, and still gets played a lot. Love the Len song also.

Would 'Groove Is In The Heart' fit the bill? Or maybe WEEN's 'Voodoo Lady' or 'Push Th Lil Daisies?'

I've never knowingly heard Ween but I've always assumed fuck 'em

save tonight by eagle eye cherry is somewhere on this spectrum too

The Eels song that fits musically but obvs ironically is 'Beautiful Day'

The clown with the frown
Drivin' down to the sidewalk fair
Finger on the trigger
Let me tell you it is quite a scare

etc.

something v post-Beck about this aesthetic

you get what you give >>>>

not sure i understand the parameters of this aesthetic

Gonna try to nail this aesthetic as:

- period of roughly '94 - 2000 with some exceptions
- funky/hip-hop influenced pop/rock but not firmly entrenched in any particular camp
- usually a one or two-hit wonder
- more of ten than not contains some lo-pass filter radio chatter or speakover
- could be American, but sounds more like people copying US music and getting it a bit wrong (even if they do turn out to be American)

how does this account for the two power pop songs in the poll

we should honestly do a full 90s one-hit wonder poll

if we could ever finish arguing about who/what qualifies

For some reason the inclusion of "In The Meantime" made me think of Letters to Cleo's "Here & Now". So I went to youtube to watch the latter song, and what was the suggested next clip? "In The Meantime". So then I loaded that and what was the next suggested clip? "You Get What You Give".

Of course Spacehog also makes me think of Boss Hog's "Whiteout" which in turn makes me think of Ruby's "Tiny Meat". So basically I am bad at this game.

God I hate these songs. 'Steal My Sunshine' is probably the only one I could stand to listen to without hitting something, so that one.

if it was played regularly on radio 2 in the daytime then it doesn't belong here. see: New Radicals

(This may partially explain my hatred of it)

Cake, How Bizarre and Scooby Snacks def fit though

we should honestly do a full 90s one-hit wonder poll

Heaven is a Halfpipe belongs so clearly here I had to check it was a different song from Steal my Sunshine

how does this account for the two power pop songs in the poll

― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Thursday, June 28, 2018 1:10 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I backtracked a bit on a previous post about the initial selection, which was picked before I really thought about it. I definitely think these are part of a wider constellation but Drinking, Steal, Bizarre, Susan's House, Loser, Scooby Snacks all seem to be quintessential. Dunno, this is really a bit of nostalgic fun for the '98 4 lyf crew

kind of weird selection. doesn't seem like a genre unless "came out in the 90s" in a genre.

i dont place "In the Meantime" next to "Steal My Sunshine". the former felt like a 90s indie rock take on Bowie glam, the latter like classic bubblegum pop. i loved "Meantime" so much when that came out but nowadays probably prefer "Sunshine". that loop is so fun to listen to.

i never understood the critical pants wetting over New Radicals. that band/song is entirely forgettable.

i have no idea where Spacehog are from. It seems to be the kind of song you either know and love or have never ever heard of

Heaven Is A Halfpipe otm

or opm, whatever

I revisited it again this morning as well. I'm mainly indifferent, but the way it interpolates "Gin & Juice" pushes it into the No column -- that's some Dynamite Hack shit, avant la lettre.

It's almost more akin to something like "Lazy Sunday" (an SNL Digital Short™) than it is a pop song.

I don't think I had ever seen the music video for it before. Want to try and identify all the records shown? 1:35 and 2:17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsQZvsR_QI

There's:

David Bowie - Heroes
Connie Francis - Sing Along with Connie Francis
Commodores - self titled
Toronto - Get It On Credit

What are Gregg Alexander's other good songs? I tried getting into the New Radicals album recently and I thought it was kind of annoying but I know he's written a handful of songs that I like.

Rivers Cuomo covered one of them on a demo collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYNA-SKrYiY

Some other albums from the Bran Van clip

ELO: Discovery
Loverboy: S/T
Bruce Springsteen: Greetings From Asbury Park...

also had never heard Drinking in LA, and I was a freshman in college at the time who wore raver/skater pants but listened to some hiphop so it should've def been on my radar.

Here’s another Gregg Alexander classique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6HP7fvbkI

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I quite liked Drinking in LA because I first heard it when I was LA, drinking. It was my first time in the US and it was all very exciting. This was in 1999 so I think it had been out for ages by then. Tbh I have a reasonable tolerance for this kind of vibe even though I don't really *like* any of these songs I don't hate them either. Apart from that Eagle Eye Cherry one maybe.

I haven't thought about that Spacehog song in 20 years, but it was all over the radio when it came out.

Only one of these songs spells out the word l-a-t-e-r though so...

Spacehog probably the archetypal British-band-bigger-in-US, even more than Bush, it's probably a cliche to even mention it tbh, although I actually do remember hearing that song in the UK at the time, so it wasn't a complete flop.

The bowie aping in it is groany but also sorta in the spirit of the day. “lol well heart in the right place for these times.”

that sample
that bass line
that ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooeooh part

this is Spacehog in a walk

len ftw

(and i LOVE EELS)

Think this fits in here somewhere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eBZqmL8ehg

p sure we already have 900 trip-hop landfill threads

xp shiit yea that Hanson song is sick

did anyone mention citizen king? that one always gets lost in the mix.

having a bad week, sic?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Len ftw!

The new radicals album is all time for me
Still sounds dope

there are a bunch of songs I've never heard before that totally fit that I enjoyed hearing for the first time too! thraed just moved on by the time I saw them

Missed this poll, but would have argued that “Natural One” should have been included.

Gonna try to nail this aesthetic as:

- period of roughly '94 - 2000 with some exceptions
- funky/hip-hop influenced pop/rock but not firmly entrenched in any particular camp
- usually a one or two-hit wonder

“Natural One” should have been included.

agreed

I remember getting a haircut in college when “Natural One” came on the radio; the woman cutting my hair was scoffing at the song with another stylist – “Who writes this stuff?” I sat there thinking, Uh, it’s John Davis and Lou Barlow... I could talk for 10 minutes about these guys!

Len won. Justice is done. Y’all

The performance of the Eels song in this poll – and the fact that barely anyone even reminisced about on it in the thread – reinforces the mystery around the fact that it was an Alternative hit.

It was, but--like a lot of big tracks from that period--it didn't have legs past it's point of max. impact.

Novocaine for the Soul didn't really cross over into the main Billboard charts. It peaked at 39 on the Airplay charts, which is just barely making it.

Drinking in L.A. didn't either, and in fact didn't even make it on the US Modern Rock charts, but that song had greater international success.

I like the eels song. Also eels were big in the UK.
Alternate versions of the song are better. It’s no last stop this town

The first three did get heavy airplay in Mexico don’t know about the US. Spacehog and Eels didn’t get any at all and I only knew about them by watching MTV’s 120 minutes (don’t know if you had that in the US but it was 2 hours of alt music including electronica and hip hop that didn’t get usual airplay from them)

I don’t remember watching the novocaine video though, I remember one with a singing carrot... “last stop this town”?

Yeah! You got it Moka

Not many singles from electro shock. Last stop and cancer for the cure was in American beauty but the industrial noise intro pretty much guaranteed it was a non single.

I was just in a shop where the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” staeted playing, and it seemed to fit the vibe of these selections in a certain way.

I could see that

i actually listened to the one citizen king album they put out. it's like beck except not good. anyways one of the members went on to mix j dilla records and the lead dude became an electroclash guy (mount sims)

just want to drop this useless knowledge

this lesser-known Swedish pop-rap hit is definitely part of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf8MR-EnSho

classic UK examples

Mint Royale - Don't Falter
Five - Keep on Movin'
Ronan Keating - Life Is a Rollercoaster
Terrorvision - Tequila

the first of those is on many of my playlists, the others never will be.

"Life is a rollercoaster" does not belong

cept it does

explain

well why not? Strong summery feel + upbeat but bittersweet (the latter an angle ever-accelerated by nostalgia) + somewhat ethereal production (Gregg Alexander). Fits this sort of thing to a tee I'd say.

I getcha but needs at least a modicum of funky 'tude as well which Ronan doesn't have

well, that's patently untrue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mok8NznlEEE

okay i take it back