summer beach jamz 98/99: Drinking in LA vs. (Don't You) Steal My Sunshine

This is a poll I thought about doing months ago but forgot about it. Voted len but they both hit the spot for me.

I'm going to have to listen to both of these real hard and get back to you L-A-T-E-R this week.

LEN without a moments hesitation.

better memories associated with the Bran Van song for me.

love both these songs

Is 'You Get What You Give' not beachy enough?

not good enough

YGWYG is its own thing imo.

OMG please LEN by a mile. Why? Because it rules, that's why. All time imo.

Wise guy to post a poll of Canadian summer jams
While it's -17 up here

bran van in a walk!

IN A WALK

Better Bran Van song is "Astounded" imo.

never even heard the first song before, was that a non-US thing?

no way dude bran van was all over modern rock radio in the u.s. that year

Better Bran Van song is "Astounded" imo.

― Senor DingDong (Trayce), vrijdag 11 februari 2011 16:04 (49 minutes ago) Bookmark

^^OTM

Steal My Sunshine was okay but I preferred Cryptic Souls Crew because of the rap.
Len, much like New Radicals, were a decent group that weren't given a fair chance due to the influx of Teen Pop groups and artists coming out at the time. I got sort of tired getting attached to a band only for them to quit after the first album.

Len is the sound of skipping along a sunny avenue and Bran Van is the sound of being totally fucked on my own in a crummy bar at 3 in the morning, and surprisingly I prefer the former.

The Bran Van 3000 is okay but like Primitive Radio Gods I can't really imagine LOVING it (though I'm sure some do), it doesn't even sound in love with itself.

Whereas the Len is lifechanging, lifesaving even.

i always hated "steal my sunshine", such a grim twee mess

"drinking in la" is vibes tho, had forgotten about it!

new radicals WORSE THAN EITHER

That first Bran Van 3000 album is fucking great; it is definitely more menacing than Len though, and if you are drawn to Len because of the uplift BV3 may not be for you.

If you like the idea of a hodge-podge of musical styles filtered through disdain and anger mixed in with a hilariously lazy, awesome cover of "Cum On (Feel The Noize)", track down that BV3 album IMMEDIATELY.

(obv voting BV3, no disrespect to Len)

zomg I had no idea BV3 was still a going concern

brb, buying up back catalogue

"Astounded" is great obv.

where did the "(don't you)" come from? pretty sure that is not in the actual song anywhere

Because "(If You)" might not have made sense?

Lex the dude singing on "Drinking On LA" is way more indie than either the bro or the sis from Len.

dude from len's voice is the WORST, heading into blink 182/ke$ha grating territory

Ohhh you hate Blink 182. Explained.

Do you hate "Teenage Dirtbag" too?

Obv I know the answer.

what the fuck, do you like it?

what the FUCK?

do you like blink 182?

everything i thought i knew about the world is not the case

Kinda neutral on Teenage Dirtbag. But it's considered an ultra-classic amongst Freaky Trigger alumni, I'm given to understand.

Like some Blink 182, like "Down".

bran van in a walk!

IN A WALK

― call all destroyer, Friday, February 11, 2011 9:45 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

disappointed in you man

yeah i don't trust FT alumni on pop. they like busted ffs.

xp

Can't stand "Steal My Sunshine"; I can't even hear "More, More, More" without feeling stabs of annoyance by proxy.

lex you respect people who like Fall Out Boy, right? I don't know how Blink 182 would be different except maybe if you don't (know you) know any fans that well?

i try to ignore the fall out boy thing, but i think they come across less like spotty 12-yr-olds than blink 182

I used to hate on b182, but nowadays they sound like the fucking Stooges compared to all the godawful nasally mall-punk that sprang up in their wake.

When I used to work at a cinema it seemed like every soundtrack playing as I cleaned was comprised of mall-punk with a six degrees separation from Mena Suvari, stuff like Len and stuff like Shawn Mullins, so now all of that stuff has this sepia toned nostalgic feel for me.

i try to ignore the fall out boy thing, but i think they come across less like spotty 12-yr-olds than blink 182

and more like aspie 15-yr-olds?

yeah, though FoB cleaned up enough to get ashlee simpson to marry one of them at least (HURRAH re: the divorce though, we might get old ashlee back!)

Pete'n'Ashlee's marriage breaking up actually makes me kind of sad. I THOUGHT THOSE CRAZY KIDS COULD MAKE IT.

Dude from Len's voice is less Blink-182 and more... dude from Rancid?

there is def someone in the SoCal punk canon who made it ok to sing in that gasping way.

listening to "drinking in LA" right now just to be sure and, yep, the winner here is "steal my sunshine"

actually i kind of love the female vocalist on "drinking in LA"

Between these two very good songs, I have a slight preference for Len. But I've got to add another good one ('99, although just in Japan; it got North American release in 2000) from up here in Bieberland: Snow's "The Plumb Song."

bran van in a walk!

IN A WALK

― call all destroyer, Friday, February 11, 2011 9:45 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

disappointed in you man

― ENBB, Friday, February 11, 2011 12:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh it is on!!!

so on

yeah, though FoB cleaned up enough to get ashlee simpson to marry one of them at least (HURRAH re: the divorce though, we might get old ashlee back!)

would have thought you'd hold it against wentz for killing ashlee's creativity (or are we still pretending that album no 3 was any good)

I was just getting into music at this time...or the idea that it could be cool to listen to music. SO the BV3K track seemed v exotic to me because it was from Canada. I also felt like I should enjoy it bcz ppl (the radio DJ, magazines) compared it to my #1 obsession in 1999, Beck. I don't think I genuinely enjoyed it but I felt snobby 15-year-old superiority to my foolish classmates who were listening to: Len, por ejemplo. -_-

Maybe if I'd have known Len were Canadian back then I would have liked them more!

I'm not actually listening to any of these...that Len song is one of those earworms like "Angel In The Centerfold" that will get stuck in my head and override my thoughts for sometimes weeks on end.

would have thought you'd hold it against wentz for killing ashlee's creativity (or are we still pretending that album no 3 was any good)

album #3 was ok? i still love the best songs off it. and yes, i do hold that against wentz.

The Bran Van 3000 is okay but like Primitive Radio Gods I can't really imagine LOVING it (though I'm sure some do), it doesn't even sound in love with itself.

yeah, very well put

the first time i heard the len song i thought the male voice was supposed to be a cartoon character singing, or that maybe it was aqua or something...

also, bran van 3000 is one of the all-time worst band names imo

the first time i heard the len song i thought the male voice was supposed to be a cartoon character singing, or that maybe it was aqua or something...

ha yeah in some ways they make more sense as like a US version of a dodgy europop duo than as a sunny version of mall-punk.

"Steal My Sunshine" has kind of the same melodic/harmonic appeal as "Teenage Dream"
I wish there was a name for that kind of song
The kind that sustains a IV chord forever and only implies the actual key, i.e. "One More Time"

a female pop star gets married and the quality of her music or state of her career from then on is the responsibility of her husband? wtf

xp the album cover posits Len as a cartoon band. anyone ever hear this thing?

http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu92/damien_stone/LEN_You_Cant_Stop_the_Bum_Rush-B00000J2PG.jpg

i always think of Steal My Sunshine as like the full-circle end of the 90s. it sounded off and and kind of retro in 99, like Right Said Fred covering 'Deeper Shade of Soul'

I listened to it once in its entirety in 1999
I only heard the song "Cryptic Souls Crew" once but could sing you the hook 12 years later, v catchy
The second single "Feelin' Alright" had a video in heavy rotation in Canada
It sounds like Sugar Ray and has a fun guitar solo tho:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_tZ_JOALRM

CC!!

dude from len's voice is the WORST

^THIS. Otherwise the song is OK... but in no way better than "Drinking In LA" .

haha I love his voice it's so ridic it's great

I get happy just hearing the opening beats of this song. It's instant summer happy times for me.

the beat is easily the best thing about the song imo - that sort of echoey 'pop' snare kills me.

The thing about Drinking in LA is that it's not just a summer beach jam, it's got a strong melancholic undercurrent in there. Hearing it makes me kind of sad. Good sad.

daavid gets it

I LOVE Bran Van *except* for this song. First of all, it reminds me of Beck now, but the main problem is that there's simply no reason to ask yourself why you'd be drinking in LA, at 26. It just doesn't strike me as the kind of realization moment where you have to check yourself. I must be something I'm missing. I much prefer Discosis, an absolutely amazing album, especially if the MJ Cole remix of "Astounded" is appended.

As for the "Steal My Sunshine", it's one of the best tracks ever - an instant life improver.

i think this is some kinda litmus test for whether you think drinking is fun or depressing.

i vote steal my sunshine.

choose life.

I've never seen "don't you" listed as part of the title and it's not how the lyrics go.

xp nah i like my drinking joyous but my summer jamz to have a splash of melancholy

(don't you) steal my sunshine

goddam reo fordecor

I was doing some investigating (read: jamming out) and I think one of the guys from That 70s show is in the video for this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_tZ_JOALRM

yes, it is the afro dude who is also a scientologist.

also in the video: cc deville, the insane guitarist from poison!

i think this is some kinda litmus test for whether you think drinking is fun or depressing.

drinking is unreservedly fun and that is why i want "steal my sunshine" nowhere within earshot when i drink

The thing about Drinking in LA is that it's not just a summer beach jam, it's got a strong melancholic undercurrent in there. Hearing it makes me kind of sad. Good sad.

the futher away you get from 26 the sadder it is :/

It would be nice to have a decade poll on this subject. 10 summer jamz 90-99, 80-89, 00-09.

1997 Sugar Ray - Fly?
1996 Sublime - What I got, santeria? Smashing Pumpkins - 1979? Butthole Surfers - Pepper, dishwalla? Spacehog? No Doubt?
1994 James - Laid?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX OTM

http://www.posters57.com/images/categories/LEN_BIAS.jpg=600.jpg

(don't sniff the coke, folks)