the LUNA music word 'em up: WILD NOTHING - "Gemini" (Captured Tracks)

I really wanted to hate this album. The 80s revivalism over the last few years has seen 80s komische, dance, industrial, new wave and what was once generically called "alternative" plundered by modern independent artists initially for inspiration, but increasingly for counterfeit. At first artists co-opted elements of the 80s and mixed them with whatever genre of indie they were trafficking in, while crafting their own sound. That sound, wasn't just a reproduction of the 80s, it was, in fact, something new. A band like Blank Dogs certainly stole generously from the Cure, but the grimy lo fi take on Robert Smith's spooky minimalist rock was something different. Yeah, it struck the mystic chords of memory for anyone who came who came of age in the 80s, but it didn't feel like the eternal return. There were shades of the familiar that drew listeners like myself in, but it wasn't like we were stuck in Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Increasingly though, more and more musicians are skimping on the innovation altogether and appear content to simply repeat, or rather rip-off, the past. Nothing pisses me off more than skimping on innovation, especially when the pillaging that is taking place happens to be of MY past. If I want to hear a band that sounds like the Cure, I'll pull the goddamned Cure out and put them on my turntable, I don't need to hear a hipster's second tier interpretation. Certainly I have let it slide already with plenty of bands, but I always knew in the back of my mind that if things kept going as they were, there was going to be one band too many - a bridge too far - that would break the camel's back and cause me to lose my shit altogether against the wholly unoriginal tripe that passes for "new" and "fresh" these days.

When I first heard Wild Nothing I thought for sure this was it. I was positive this would be the band I would unleash all of the pent up anger over this continuous musical necrophilia. To make it worse they are tweer than twee, and I like twee, Belle and Sebastian are one of my favorite bands of all time, but Christ they are twee. Just listen to the lyrics of "Live in Dreams," the lead track from Wild Nothing's debut album "Gemini," the chorus of which is; "Cause our lips won't last forever and that's exactly why I'd rather live in dreams and I'd rather die." I mean, this is the kind of shit that Edward Cullen and Bella Swan listen to together. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that? Oddly enough; love it in spite of myself.

Yes it sounds like so many C86 bands, and yes it recalls, nay copies, the whole general sound of pre-shoegaze indie rock, and yes, it's a second tier interpretation of the Cure (among others), or, for you youngins, an even more twee Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but damn if the songs aren't catchy-as-hell. These are perfectly written pop jewels, well except for some of those ridiculously maudlin lyrics. Yet, even the lyrics are saved by Jack Tatum's delivery and voice. It's all dream-pop romanticism, and, try as I might, as someone who still gets chills when Morrissey croons during "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," I am not immune to Tatum's wiles.

The whole thing actually becomes downright impressive when you consider that Wild Nothing is Tatum and Tatum alone. "Gemini" was recorded as a one man affair, but you wouldn't know. Wild Nothing sounds like a fully formed band more so than any other bedroom act. That fact alone makes Tatum's 80's revivalism somehow more palatable. This is his voice, and his alone. This isn't a band who got together and decided they wanted to one up Pains of Being Pure At Heart, this is a guy saying 'hey, this is me, this is what I like and this is what it sounds like.' If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Tatum is clearly an even bigger fan of the sounds that informed much of my teenage years than I. For that I admire him. That and the fact that he's a pretty damn good songwriter who put together an album that sounds nothing like a one man project.

Another endearing aspect of "Gemini" is Tatum's ability to combine the sunny with the dreary. The pitch perfect "Summer Holiday" sounds exactly like its title, while "Confirmation" is just as kinetic, but darker and more desperate sounding. Between seemingly happy pop numbers, majestically sounding down beat tracks like "My Angel Lonely" "The Witching Hour," and title track "Gemini" shine. Tatum doesn't flip the script or slow things down to a mournful pace, as much as he darkens his jangly pop palette with shades of grey.

So, like I said, in spite of myself I kind of love this album. It isn't life changing, although maybe it could be for a teenager who hasn't already had their life changed by the Smiths, but it is a damn fine indie pop album. I would at least like to say that this isn't something that I would consciously put on, but instead enjoy when it appears on my iPod during shuffle mode, but that would be a lie. A lot of these songs have become addictive and I find myself rushing to put them on when the little earworms they have planted do their trick. In the end, I have to begrudgingly admit that Jack Tatum and his Wild Nothing are great, and "Gemini" has stilled the beast within that seeks recompense for the incessant pillaging of the 80s. This was going to be the album I loved to hate, but instead it turned out to be the album that I just plain loved.

Wheeler says: "Is this House of Love? It's not? Well, it's been done before."

"Summer Holiday" live

"Live in Dreams" unofficial video