A history lesson: defining the sound of a decade
You're right, Jack Antonoff isn't doing anything new!
The Internet’s a little miffed at Jack Antonoff.
All pop music sounds the same
If it’s not blasting through your brain already allow me to describe it:
Big, anthemic choruses.
Bigger 80’s-inspired synths.
Sweeping, layered sound.
Percussive guitars.
The occasional drum machine.
If you’re still not sure, picture Taylor Swift’s Out of the Woods, Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell… or better yet, Fun’s We Are Young. New news for some of you, but Jack Antonoff is part of the indie-sleaze, 2010’s-defining-band Fun.
Assuming you’ve added those to your playlist and given them a listen, let’s keep going
Here’s a quick, non-exhaustive list of the collaborators who’ve “been Antonoff’d:”
Taylor Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, The Chicks, St. Vincent, Carly Rae Jepsen, Grimes, The 1975, etc etc etc. And most recently, Kendrick Lamar. (Antonoff valiantly lent his production skills to the recent Kendrick X Drake beef.)
Rich with popular collaborators and accolades, yes. But to laptop music critics, the man solely responsible for ruining music as we know it. He’s blanketing music with blandness. Neutering it with tired, nostalgic references.
But maybe he’s not destroying music, he’s just defining the sound of a decade?
Listen, I’m not riding hard for Jack Antonoff. I enjoy lots of his work, both as a producer and as Bleachers (think: Springsteen x indie x your favorite coming of age 80’s movie.) I just think it’s a little unfair to say he’s single handedly ruining pop music as we know it. Besides, this isn’t the first time a producer has had this magnitude of influence. Quincy Jones defined funk and soul sounds of the 70’s and 80’s. Babyface characterized 90’s R&B. Max Martin created the soundtrack to the late 90’s and early aughts. But when we’re talking Antonoff and his calling card of sweeping, anthemic choruses I want to dial in on one person and his famous style:
Phil Spector and “the wall of sound”
🚨 alert alert lets start by making sure we’re all clear on something: Phil Spector is an asshole 🚨 POS woman-hater, abuser, and murderer. So that’s the last thing we’ll say about him and instead talk about the sound itself and the collaborators who helped define the sound of the 1960’s.
Wall of sound is kind of self-explanatory. It’s a lot of instruments making a big, giant wall of noise. It required large ensembles, sometimes with instruments not normally part of ensembles at the time like electric guitars. Once the parts were recorded they’d be doubled or even tripled to create a fuller, richer tone. Often the sounds of totally different instruments would be mixed together so seamlessly, they’d sound like one single instrument to the listener.
Here’s something interesting to consider- at the time this production style was becoming popular it was used entirely in pop music, which historically skews toward a younger audience. Introducing instruments like strings, woodwinds, brass, etc. wasn’t just unheard of but also a little insane. Some referred to it as, “little symphonies for kids.”
If you can’t picture what this all sounds like, yes you can.
Wall of sound classics include…
God Only Knows and Wouldn’t it Be Nice? By the Beach Boys.
My personal favorite song of all time, Be My Baby by the Ronnettes
I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher
River Deep, Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner
Here, just take a playlist. Damn.
There’s something all-encompassing about this style of production that Antonoff’s sweeping, ear-filling style also has. You’re thinking, “Anna the word you’re looking for is cinematic.” Thank you dear reader, you’re so right.
For good measure, here’s another link to a playlist aptly titled, every jack antonoff produced song. You can really explore for yourself and then decide if this man is ruining music for you or not.
Thank you for attending this lecture
On the spectrum of culture reporting to pure opinion this is more the latter. But as a capital C capital S Cultural Strategist, what I’m really trying to get across here is that most trends are cyclical. External factors may change, outside influences may land us on a path that’s been walked before. History repeats. History shuffles. History presses play.
BYE!