For a while now, I`ve been well aware that a lot of music since around 2000 has been in the vein of the 1980s. The Post punk revival - one that`s been huge in indie circles and has also expanded well into the mainstream - is still popular, though I think it`s taken a downturn lately. And elements of `80s new wave has made its way into mainstream singles as well. Even outside of music, it shows up, but for everyone`s sake I`m not going to talk about VH1`s fake documentaries ("I Love the `80s!") or anything else on TV. After seeing a total of five groups at the Summersonic Festival at Makuhari in Chiba, Japan last Saturday (The Pipettes, The Long Blondes, Shitdisco, Interpol, and LCD Soundsystem) whose lifeblood was reviving past styles, I just started to get bored. It was especially redundant when you consider that three of those bands are playing 80s music - LCD Soundsystem belong to the `70s, and The Pipettes belong to the `60s. I really do like a lot of the bands, but I guess I was just hoping for something a bit more stylisticly original. And maybe I asked for it by spending too much of my time at the dance stage.
Now I don`t want to completely dismiss anyone who so much as makes a reference to a past era through his music. I`m not a staunch advocate against using samples, quoting songs, or making references to the past of any sort. I think creativity is as much molding someone else`s ideas as it is cultivating your own. But when so many groups sound like throwbacks from a different era entirely, something must be wrong. Something like people are unable or unwilling to experiment with new ideas, or how people are just craving life from a different era. I can`t put my finger on it just yet, but you can believe that this problem will definitely be bugging me for a while.
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