I remember in my interview with popular internet personality, MC Steinberg, he talked about not know who the Shins were when he interviewed them, and he thought that they were just some ‘cool Dads.’
Now, whenever I see a band mature and age, I can’t help but think of them as ‘cool alternative parents.’ While some of these dudes are probably actually parents, it’s just pretty interesting to think of these guys as transitioning between holding a guitar to holding a 4 year old daughter.
Sonic Youth
Blink 182
Daft Punk without their masks?
Is it weird when 15 year old girls relate to songs that a ‘cool dad’ wrote? Does Deathcab for Cutie still sing about themes of youth and blossoming love on their latest album?
I guess transitioning into a COOL DAD is better than ‘trying to find the fountain of youth via partying too much.’ Right?
“God bless the daylight
The sugary smell of springtime
Remembering when you were mine
In a still suburban town
When every Thursday
I’d brave those mountain passes
And you’d skip your early classes
And we’d learn how our bodies worked”
-Benjamin Gibbard, DCFC
Would u learn how ur body works with a cool dad?
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25 Comments
Dooooood Death Cab’s new album talks about being an alternative parent: “We bought some wine and some paper cups/Near your daughter’s school when we picked her up/And drove to a cemetery on a hill/We watched the plumes paint the sky gray/As she laughed and danced through the field of grapes/and there I knew it would be alright/Everything would be alright.”
SEE, ITS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT.
and actually the theme of this album seems to be aging and um, how it really sucks when you still feel cool but don’t look cool….y’know?
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*grapes = graves
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Ben Gibbard keeps looking more and more like Garrison Keillor, who, conicidentally, is the ultimate cool dad.
DCFC: fugliest band evar?
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i am the daughter of a “cool alt dad” and i grew up on a steady diet of sonic youth, death cab for cutie, shins and animal collective. he introduced me to architecture in helsinki and i introduced him to the blow.
alt dads rock!
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You introduced your dad to the blow? Whoa, I thought that would be like your moms job.
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^^^^ har har
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i strived like 5 years ago to lose my v-card to that song. i was like BODIES WORKED? does that mean xxx???!!!
on DCFC, go back to not being on a record label, i liked u then.
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i did learn how my body worked with an alt dad.
better than learning with an alt boy who wants to be a girl.
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but if your daddy was ben gibbard, in the ultimate trial of irony, you would probably downolad the new mariah carey in protest whenever he grounds you.
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sorry alt boy who looks like a girl.
also no not MY alt dad.
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post more blow j’s
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Wish my dad was guy-manuel de homem-christo. So many hyphens!COOL.
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wait, anon, you introduced your dad to the white stuff? or to the popular electronic duo? or to the old facial explosion?
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Wilco: the ultimate COOL DAD band?
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Billy Bragg is the bees knees
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THURSTON MOORE <3 = 100% alt dad
pun intended
(is that a pun? or just a reference?)
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ben is only thirty-one!
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I introduced your mom to the blow…
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@ 6:03 YESSSS
portland is crawling with alt DILFS, btw
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I can’t wait to be an ALT COOL DAD. Actually, I’ll probably just be like every other dad, except instead of my kids telling me not to play Journey so loud when I pick them up for school it’ll be SebastiAn.
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Question about pic #1:
Why is it that the guy on the far right seems dressed for winter, while the guy on the far right seems suited for summer? And then the two guys in the middle are variants of a fall or spring collection?
I mean, can’t this band get their shit together and agree on what season they represent? Or were the weather patterns so bizarre in the studio that weather patterns changed every 15 inches or so? Or are they male models for the new SEARS.ALT collection?
If they are truly a band, I think their music might sound like a middle aged man’s asshole sneezing.
BNGRTILIDIE???
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You mention The Postal Service several times in your blog and now you’ve managed to incorporate DCFC. Neither of the bands are particularly in step with the music you usually blog about.
Are you…
A)subtly promoting a band that you feel is largely underappreciated by your readers.
B)an ironic asshole?
C)from Bellingham, WA?
D)going to give Ben Gibbard a tugjob?
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mwah mwah
ummm….yeh woody allen did the whole nervous jew thing. this guy fucking sucks.
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is Morrissey the ultimate alt. dad?
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“I Will Follow [a cool dad] Into The Dark”
Would YOU?!/!?!/!?/!
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