When Mia Berrin was a teenager in Florida, Nada Surf’s “Popular” was one of her favorite music videos. The 1996 alt-rock hit’s sarcastic perspective spoke to her, as did its subtly subversive gender politics, and seeing it all played out was exciting.
“It was around the time I was starting to get fascinated with the cheerleader aesthetic and that character,” Berrin, 24, tells Rolling Stone. “Seeing that in this song, and this funny heteronormative high-school video, was inspiring.”
Today, Berrin writes, sings, and plays guitar in Pom Pom Squad, who...
“It was around the time I was starting to get fascinated with the cheerleader aesthetic and that character,” Berrin, 24, tells Rolling Stone. “Seeing that in this song, and this funny heteronormative high-school video, was inspiring.”
Today, Berrin writes, sings, and plays guitar in Pom Pom Squad, who...
- 12/15/2021
- by Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
The late rocker and TV/theater composer Adam Schlesinger, who died from complications of Covid-19 in April 2020, will be feted by dozens of musicians and actors in May in an online tribute being produced by Jody Porter, his longtime bandmate in Fountains of Wayne.
Titled “Adam Schlesinger, A Music Celebration, Virtual Show,” the stream will be primarily recorded at New York’s Bowery Electric and go out May 5 at 8 p.m. Et on the Rolling Live platform, with a ticket price of $20 that will benefit MusiCares and the closed host venue itself.
Said Porter, “This is a proper musical send-off for my soul brother with a bunch of talented and groovy guests that would make Adam wince.”
Among the frequent collaborators of Schlesinger’s who’ll appear on the show besides Porter and his band the Berlin Waltz are Taylor Hanson and James Iha, both of his band Tinted Windows,...
Titled “Adam Schlesinger, A Music Celebration, Virtual Show,” the stream will be primarily recorded at New York’s Bowery Electric and go out May 5 at 8 p.m. Et on the Rolling Live platform, with a ticket price of $20 that will benefit MusiCares and the closed host venue itself.
Said Porter, “This is a proper musical send-off for my soul brother with a bunch of talented and groovy guests that would make Adam wince.”
Among the frequent collaborators of Schlesinger’s who’ll appear on the show besides Porter and his band the Berlin Waltz are Taylor Hanson and James Iha, both of his band Tinted Windows,...
- 4/15/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
A tribute album to Adam Schlesinger being released today on Bandcamp includes cover songs by two actors who collaborated with the late songwriter on projects, Rachel Bloom and Sarah Silverman, as well as contemporaries of Schlesinger’s from the rock world like Kay Hanley, Nada Surf and Tanya Donnelly.
“Saving for a Custom Van,” which takes its name from the title track of the essential Fountains of Wayne album “Utopia Parkway,” is a 31-track collection that covers the breadth of Schlesinger’s performing and songwriting career. Besides familiar FoW songs from the late ’90s and 2000s, the collection also includes songs from his six-season run as the core house writer for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” the films “Music and Lyrics” and “That Thing You Do!,” and Schlesinger’s other long-standing band, Ivy. Even two of the songs he wrote for “Josie and the Pussycats” figure into the expansive track list.
“Saving for a Custom Van,” which takes its name from the title track of the essential Fountains of Wayne album “Utopia Parkway,” is a 31-track collection that covers the breadth of Schlesinger’s performing and songwriting career. Besides familiar FoW songs from the late ’90s and 2000s, the collection also includes songs from his six-season run as the core house writer for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” the films “Music and Lyrics” and “That Thing You Do!,” and Schlesinger’s other long-standing band, Ivy. Even two of the songs he wrote for “Josie and the Pussycats” figure into the expansive track list.
- 6/16/2020
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Rachel Bloom, Sarah Silverman and Charly Bliss have all contributed songs to a new tribute album to late songwriter Adam Schlesinger, Saving for a Custom Van, out Tuesday, June 16th, on Bandcamp via Father/Daughter Records and Wax Nine.
The extensive 31-song compilation boasts an array of artists covering songs Schlesinger wrote with his bands Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, as well as material he penned for TV shows and films like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, That Thing You Do and Music and Lyrics. The compilation’s lead single is Letters to...
The extensive 31-song compilation boasts an array of artists covering songs Schlesinger wrote with his bands Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, as well as material he penned for TV shows and films like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, That Thing You Do and Music and Lyrics. The compilation’s lead single is Letters to...
- 6/16/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
It’s been nearly 20 years since Nada Surf’s wonderful alt-rock one-hit-by-design “Popular,” a song that perfectly embodied/parodied the underdog ambivalence of the post-Nirvana era. They’ve been making excellent music ever since, years and years after so many other alt-rock one-hits don’t even exist as trivia questions. The run of albums they made during the 2000s — 2003’s Let Go, 2005’s The Weight Is a Gift, and 2009’s Lucky — is especially worth returning to, full of sweet songs about grappling with the muted joys and weird perils of...
- 1/10/2020
- by Jon Dolan
- Rollingstone.com
This interview originally appeared in the April 17, 1997 issue of Rolling Stone
You knew he was tall, but when Ric Ocasek walks out of the Blue Room at the Chung King House of Metal, in New York, you realize he’s impossibly tall — and reedlike to the point of being wispy. The man whom those over 25 know as the former leader of New Wave icons the Cars (and those under 25 know as the producer of Weezer and Nada Surf) is here recording his fifth solo album; Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan is producing a few tracks,...
You knew he was tall, but when Ric Ocasek walks out of the Blue Room at the Chung King House of Metal, in New York, you realize he’s impossibly tall — and reedlike to the point of being wispy. The man whom those over 25 know as the former leader of New Wave icons the Cars (and those under 25 know as the producer of Weezer and Nada Surf) is here recording his fifth solo album; Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan is producing a few tracks,...
- 9/16/2019
- by Suzan Colon
- Rollingstone.com
I became a bigger fan of the majestic, jangly pop-rock of Nada Surf once R.E.M. faded into the woodwork. Don't get me wrong, I dug the lads from Athens, Ga., but their last few albums just didn't move me. Thankfully, the N.Y.C.-based Nada Surf continues to soldier on, 20+ years later, despite never reaping the benefits of the enormous success they so deserve. Nada Surf's latest effort, the digital release B-Sides (Barsuk Records), collects previously unreleased tracks and bonus material from the band's four previous studio albums (Let Go, The Weight Is a Gift, Lucky, and The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy), many of which have never been available digitally in the U.S. If you don't know this band, listen to the first single, "No Quick Fix," and start buying them today. Well worth the effort.
- 9/8/2014
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
If you have this strange urge to listen to Death Cab and read comic books today, there's a reason: 10 years ago, on Aug. 5, 2003, "The O.C." premiered on Fox.
Seminal hardly begins to describe the impact Josh Schwartz's coming-of-age series had on popular culture. The first season exploded through the zeitgeist like a comet, helping user in the age of geek rule while also turning indie rock acts like Rooney, The Killers and the aforementioned Death Cab for Cutie into required listening for emo kids of all ages.
"The first six or seven episodes was really literally stuff off of my iPod," Schwartz told HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall in a new interview. "Some of the bands that we reached out to were these indie rock bands, and that was all we could afford. A lot of these bands probably would have had deeper reservations about having their music debut on a Fox teen soap,...
Seminal hardly begins to describe the impact Josh Schwartz's coming-of-age series had on popular culture. The first season exploded through the zeitgeist like a comet, helping user in the age of geek rule while also turning indie rock acts like Rooney, The Killers and the aforementioned Death Cab for Cutie into required listening for emo kids of all ages.
"The first six or seven episodes was really literally stuff off of my iPod," Schwartz told HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall in a new interview. "Some of the bands that we reached out to were these indie rock bands, and that was all we could afford. A lot of these bands probably would have had deeper reservations about having their music debut on a Fox teen soap,...
- 8/5/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
As many iTunes lovers and Youtube fanatics understand, music (old and new) has become a huge factor on hit television shows and both the show and artists featured benefit from the collaboration. Ever YouTube a certain scene from your favorite show for hours on end? Did it have a catchy song that you immediately downloaded? Yes, the odds are that you have.
| Related: Best TV Soundtracks: The O.C. |
Television show soundtracks are an obsession over here and the music played make that specific scene that much more memorable. Remember when Jake met Peyton at the airport with Gavin DeGraw's "We Belong Together" playing in the background? Remember when Tyler Hilton was introduced with his "Glad" tune? Thought so. Here's 10 moments that made an impact.
Also, stay tuned weekly here at Ology for a look back and a look forward to some of the best soundtracks that some of the greatest television shows have featured.
| Related: Best TV Soundtracks: The O.C. |
Television show soundtracks are an obsession over here and the music played make that specific scene that much more memorable. Remember when Jake met Peyton at the airport with Gavin DeGraw's "We Belong Together" playing in the background? Remember when Tyler Hilton was introduced with his "Glad" tune? Thought so. Here's 10 moments that made an impact.
Also, stay tuned weekly here at Ology for a look back and a look forward to some of the best soundtracks that some of the greatest television shows have featured.
- 8/29/2012
- by Stephanie Webber
- TVology
“I cannot believe the future’s happening to me,” Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws sings on the closing track of The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, and it’s a fair perspective. It’s been two decades since the band launched, and 16 years since its one-hit-wonder days as the purveyors of "Popular." The alternative era feels long gone: With hip-hop and electronic dance music established as dominant paradigms, both pop radio stations and the online underground have largely jettisoned the no-frills power-pop the band has spent its career whittling down to a fine point. Frankly, The Audience Is Indifferent ...
- 1/24/2012
- avclub.com
One of this past year's big Sundance success stories was Our Idiot Brother, formerly known as My Idiot Brother. The film stars Paul Rudd as the dopey sibling who gets kicked out by his girlfriend after being arrested for selling pot to a uniformed police officer. With nowhere else to turn, Rudd's character goes to his three sisters, played by Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer.
We've already shown you one trailer for the film, but the newest one has even more footage of Rudd acting a fool. This second trailer also touches a little more on Rudd's character's evolving relationship with his sisters, and we've got a serious hunch that maybe - just maybe - in a shocking twist, the three sisters could stand to learn a little something from their idiot brother. Check it out below:
Our Idiot Brother was written and directed by Jesse Peretz, who...
We've already shown you one trailer for the film, but the newest one has even more footage of Rudd acting a fool. This second trailer also touches a little more on Rudd's character's evolving relationship with his sisters, and we've got a serious hunch that maybe - just maybe - in a shocking twist, the three sisters could stand to learn a little something from their idiot brother. Check it out below:
Our Idiot Brother was written and directed by Jesse Peretz, who...
- 6/15/2011
- UGO Movies
Every year around spring, the flowers bloom, the snow melts into streams, the bears come out of hibernation, and dozens of tone deaf Europeans in leotards descend upon one lucky major city with a single goal in mind: Win Eurovision. Yes, Eurovision, the most spectacular televised musical fatality we look forward to every year. If you’re not familiar with the biblical proportions of this major talent competition, here’s a quick breakdown of events: Each European country included votes on a national song to represent them in the main competition. The entries are whittled from 40 down to 25 finalists, who then perform in a massively epic stage show in front of millions of people worldwide. Finally, the citizens of each country vote for their favorites (and no, they’re not allowed to vote for their own country) and voila: You have your Eurovision winner. But wait… Who cares about the...
- 5/15/2011
- by Michelle Collins
- BestWeekEver
Beloved U.S. TV actress Gloria Winters-Vernon has died at the age of 78. Winters-Vernon passed away at her home in Vista, California on August 14 after a battle with pneumonia, her family tells The Los Angeles Times.
As Gloria Winters she enjoyed guest acting roles in numerous 1950s series, including "Richard Diamond", "Private Detective", "Racket Squad" and "Death Valley Days" - but she was perhaps best-known for her role as Penny in TV western "Sky King". She retired shortly after the series went off the air in 1959 but found love on the hit show before she quit acting, marrying Dean Vernon, a sound engineer on "Sky King" who died in 2001.
The "Sky King" role also inspired her to write an etiquette book for young girls, entitled "Penny's Guide to Teenage Charm and Personality" - which inspired alternative band Nada Surf's 1996 song and video "Popular"
.
Winters-Vernon is survived by her sister-in-law,...
As Gloria Winters she enjoyed guest acting roles in numerous 1950s series, including "Richard Diamond", "Private Detective", "Racket Squad" and "Death Valley Days" - but she was perhaps best-known for her role as Penny in TV western "Sky King". She retired shortly after the series went off the air in 1959 but found love on the hit show before she quit acting, marrying Dean Vernon, a sound engineer on "Sky King" who died in 2001.
The "Sky King" role also inspired her to write an etiquette book for young girls, entitled "Penny's Guide to Teenage Charm and Personality" - which inspired alternative band Nada Surf's 1996 song and video "Popular"
.
Winters-Vernon is survived by her sister-in-law,...
- 8/31/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Beloved U.S. TV actress Gloria Winters-vernon has died at the age of 78.
Winters-Vernon passed away at her home in Vista, California on 14 August after a battle with pneumonia, her family tells The Los Angeles Times.
As Gloria Winters she enjoyed guest acting roles in numerous 1950s series, including Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Racket Squad and Death Valley Days - but she was perhaps best-known for her role as Penny in TV western Sky King.
She retired shortly after the series went off the air in 1959 but found love on the hit show before she quit acting, marrying Dean Vernon, a sound engineer on Sky King who died in 2001.
The Sky King role also inspired her to write an etiquette book for young girls, entitled Penny's Guide to Teenage Charm and Personality - which inspired alternative band Nada Surf's 1996 song and video Popular.
Winters-Vernon is survived by her sister-in-law, Phyllis DeCinces.
Winters-Vernon passed away at her home in Vista, California on 14 August after a battle with pneumonia, her family tells The Los Angeles Times.
As Gloria Winters she enjoyed guest acting roles in numerous 1950s series, including Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Racket Squad and Death Valley Days - but she was perhaps best-known for her role as Penny in TV western Sky King.
She retired shortly after the series went off the air in 1959 but found love on the hit show before she quit acting, marrying Dean Vernon, a sound engineer on Sky King who died in 2001.
The Sky King role also inspired her to write an etiquette book for young girls, entitled Penny's Guide to Teenage Charm and Personality - which inspired alternative band Nada Surf's 1996 song and video Popular.
Winters-Vernon is survived by her sister-in-law, Phyllis DeCinces.
- 8/30/2010
- WENN
Paul Rudd may be your idiot brother, but he has some hot ass sisters: Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer. That's not the only draw to the upcoming comedy, My Idiot Brother. You've got Rashida Jones playing the girlfriend of Deschanel, Steven Coogan, and Jesse Peretz directing. Peretz is the former bass player for The Lemonheads and helmed awesome videos for Foo Fighters, The Breeders, and Nada Surf. He's also directed a couple of features: The Ex and The Chateau (also...
- 8/6/2010
- by Niki Stephens
- JoBlo.com
Forever a tribute band On their sixth album, Nada Surf repurposes a dozen songs from inside and outside pop music’s canon. Covers, of course, are always fraught with peril, and at times singer/guitarist Matthew Caws’ inflection has a way of fermenting the source material’s latent cheese. On the synth-less “Enjoy the Silence,” he over-enunciates some of Depeche Mode’s most ironically banal lyrics: “Words are meaningless / And forgettable.” But on “Love and Anger,” a ballad originally energized by Kate Bush’s octave-bending trill, he belts the melody to better effect. The appropriation of other people’s words works best on “Agony...
- 7/15/2010
- Pastemagazine.com
If Nada Surf followed the expected narrative, the band would have broken up and become a footnote not long after scoring a novelty hit with “Popular” in 1996. Instead, the trio soldiered on, building an appreciative following around the great 2002 album Let Go, a pair of not-so-shabby follow-up albums, and winning live shows. At this point, “Popular” has become the footnote in the career of a band with a powerful pop sensibility and a knack for emotionally affecting songs. Neither gift came out of nowhere, however, and If I Had A Hi-Fi finds Nada Surf paying tribute to its ...
- 5/11/2010
- avclub.com
Remember when radio was really, really weird? In the late 1990s, there was a gap between the dominant forces in modern rock. Grunge had sputtered but the nü metal movement had yet to take hold, which left about a three year window where modern rock radio was just bizarre. Odd tunes like Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy," Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta," Nada Surf's "Popular" and Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" became inescapable radio staples, partially because they were great songs but also because nobody really knew what else to do. It was a wild time, because you never knew what was going to break out. It seemed like anything could become a hit, and as a result, the radio world felt a little more open-minded a free-wheeling for a time.
Case in point: 1997 saw the rise of...
Case in point: 1997 saw the rise of...
- 2/25/2010
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
Director: Jim Granato Pat Spurgeon is a musician whose lifelong dream of being in a successful rock band is coming true with his band Rogue Wave. Unfortunately, just as Rogue Wave starts to take off, Spurgeon’s kidney (a transplant he received 13 years prior) begins to show signs of failing. As a career musician, Spurgeon is uninsured and has no “back-up plan.” Faced with twice a day dialysis and a search for a new kidney, Spurgeon simultaneously prepares to embark on a grueling tour with Rogue Wave because he does not want to forfeit his lifelong dream (and career). The tour is nicknamed the “D tour” because Spurgeon needs to get a “D” (for dialysis) fix twice a day. D Tour follows Spurgeon on his rocky and emotional quest for a matching kidney and overall health. Produced, directed, shot and co-edited by Jim Granato D Tour deals with two seminal...
- 10/21/2009
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Dawn Landes, Andrew Bird, Nada Surf and DeVotchKa are among the eight artists to contribute to Songs From The Point!, a new compilation reinventing the music from Harry Nilsson's cult-classic cartoon musical. After its 1971 debut as a made-for-tv movie on ABC, The Point! amassed an adoring following for the sweet soundtrack composed by Nilsson, the songwriter who had previously released a handful of his own albums and written songs for the likes of The Monkees and Three Dog Night.
- 8/6/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
Critics have called the Chicago four-some The Sea and Cake a "post-modern jazz combo". While we have no idea what that means, we’ll just go ahead and say it is premium chill tuneage.
The band which formed in ’97 saw a brief hiatus a couple years ago, but have come back with two albums since last May. The latest, Car Alarm, came out a couple weeks ago and is perfect for lazy Sundays camped out in the stacks. And whether you want to admit it or not, that time of year is fast approaching where some study soundtracks will be a necessity.
The opening track, “Aerial”, sets the theme for the rest of the album – upbeat enough to keep you awake, chill enough to play in the background. It has a sort of 90s feel, I immediately thought of Nada Surf or The Replacements. I really dug the track “Weekend...
The band which formed in ’97 saw a brief hiatus a couple years ago, but have come back with two albums since last May. The latest, Car Alarm, came out a couple weeks ago and is perfect for lazy Sundays camped out in the stacks. And whether you want to admit it or not, that time of year is fast approaching where some study soundtracks will be a necessity.
The opening track, “Aerial”, sets the theme for the rest of the album – upbeat enough to keep you awake, chill enough to play in the background. It has a sort of 90s feel, I immediately thought of Nada Surf or The Replacements. I really dug the track “Weekend...
- 11/14/2008
- BooshMagazine.com
On Nov. 25, Nada Surf will release all five of its studio albums on vinyl, for the first time, in a big limited-edition box set. Only 1,000 are being made and they include the bands first 7" single, a full-color 24-page lyric and photo book, and download codes for MP3 versions of The Proximity Effect, Let Go, The Weight Is a Gift and Lucky as well as codes to rare and out-of-print b-sides and bonus tracks.
- 10/29/2008
- Pastemagazine.com
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