That's Not Beach House Or LCD Soundsystem, But An Amazing Facsimile

posted in: Music News • Pop • Rock

Indie rock fans might’ve been a bit taken aback when they turned on their TVs earlier this week. British viewers of a new Volkswagen commercial were treated to an ad with a rather dreamy soundtrack.

Some fans of indie rock duo Beach House thought the track sounded a bit… familiar.

And in case there was any confusion on how much the song in the commercial sounds like the Beach House original “Take Care”, the band cleared up the issue with a statement on their Facebook page.

The ad agency actively tried to license “take care” from us for weeks, to which we politely declined. People’s comments/ anger should not be directed towards VW or us. It was the ad agency that made these moves. I hope this also clarifies to fans and non- fans just how “take care” and the vw ad song are related. We will release a proper statement weeks from now when we don’t have more interesting things to do/ talk about.

So doesn’t really sound like there was any harm or foul here, though the ad agency could’ve probably found another hazy, smoky track from an artist to use instead of hiring a sound design team to make a soundalike.

These kinds of licensing issues come up more often than one would think. Indie folk groups Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear both had to deal with commercial songs that borrowed a bit too closely from the source material in 2010. But rarely does the issue come up again in the same week!

Well, that kinda sounds like LCD Soundsystem’s “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House,” wouldn’t you say? This ad for T.G.I. Friday’s went online on the 14th but is just now going viral. Frontman James Murphy has yet to weigh in on the matter but we have a feeling that, whatever the case, his riposte is going to be a bit more clever and biting than Beach House’s chilled out response.