Did Somebody Say 90s Revival?
posted in: Music News • Pop • Rock
In case you weren’t aware, American culture has been in the midst of a ’90s revival. This has been a long time coming, friends. We were bound to sober up a bit after the glammed out ’80s revival we experienced for the better part of the last decade. There have been hints of this as well, from Nickelodeon’s relaunch of nostalgia-baiting shows like All That, Doug, and Kenan and Kel to grungy fashion trends like giant boots and women in denim jackets.
But how has this impacted the world of music? I’m glad you asked.
The ’90s revival has been going on across nearly all genres of music for over two years now, but it’s not something that has had a regional basis. There is no ’90s revival scene in NYC or LA or Chicago. You could be forgiven if you missed it. Indeed, many even bristle at the term ’90s revival and question the existence of such a revival at all. But it’s here. It’s been here.
In a way ’90s music never really went away. The typical rotation of tracks on any given rock or alternative station is going to be heavy on the favorites of yesteryear. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Green Day and a slew of other bands are still getting radio play with tracks that are nearly two decades old. It’s also no accident that there’s been a rash of recent reunions from the likes of Eve 6, Garbage, and that dog., amongst others.
But rock radio isn’t the only place where the ’90s thrive. If you’ve listened to Top 40 radio in the past few months then you’ve gotten a taste of this latest revival. Sure, bands like fun. and Gotye don’t sound particularly ’90s. In fact, Gotye sounds way more ’80s, like a love child of Paul Simon and Sting. But when was the last time the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 was occupied by back to back alternative artists? What makes this even more huge is the fact that many declared rock music dead and buried in 2011.
In his 2011 Midyear Report, Jay Frank of FutureHit.DNA noted that the only artist with any presence in the Top 40 that could even be considered close to rock was Adele. In a more recent posting, Frank remarked on the unheralded popularity of Somebody That I Used To Know, stating that, [i]t doesn’t really fit modern Top 40 theories, but it has that compelling special something. My personal theory? Trends are cyclical. Listeners tired of the R&B flavored pop that dominated the late ’90s and early aughts. While rap and hip-hop are still huge, those styles aren’t having the same moment as when they were dominating the airwaves from 2002-2008. EDM is in the middle of its own moment but look what happened when producer ATB played Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit in full during his set at the Electric Daisy Carnival.
People lost it.
The radio is not where the ’90s revival started. We have indie rock to thank for that. When UK indie rock act Yuck dropped their self titled debut in 2011, you couldn’t read a review that didn’t mention their debt to ’80s and ’90s bands like Dinosaur Jr. or My Bloody Valentine. Michigan-based three piece (power trio?) Cheap Girls, whose most recent album Giant Orange came out this past February, proudly list uncouth but so ’90s influences like Gin Blossoms and Lemonheads on their Facebook page.
So all hail the ’90s revival! People that are into it, enjoy it while it lasts. For everyone is scratching their heads over this most recent cultural obsession, fear not, for we are not experiencing a revival in dial-up connections. Thanks to our short attention spans brought on by cat videos and broadband, you can rest assured that we’ll revive another trend soon enough.