The Video for “Someone Else” by Dead Stars Is an Actual Time Machine

Sometimes nostalgia makes me want to barf. Like, what’s up with our generation? Are we so ideas-bankrupt that all we can do is stirch together poor pastiches of what’s gone before? As Mike Skinner of The Streets questioned in 2002: “Has it come to this?”

Well sorta. Sometimes. That’s the thing about retro references—if a band hits it just right, we give them a free pass because it makes us feel gooey and golden inside. “Someone Else” by Brooklyn trio Dead Stars is an excellent example of this. It’s pure ’94. Those who have a soft spot for Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk, The Lemonheads, and Pavement will revel in the warmth of their fuzzy chords, feelgood hooks, and the VHS-scrappiness of this video, their self-described “love letter to Brooklyn.” If you’re familiar with the area, you’ll note many local dives serve as a backdrop to their lo-fi performances—The Levee and hook-up hellhole Union Pool, to name two.

Wish these guys were playing in my laundromat every Sunday: the perfect soundtrack to folding up my t-shirts and maybe falling in love with that boy in the torn-up Chucks by the change machine. Failing that, they’re going on tour and we suggest you go.

Dead Stars Tour Dates

* = w/ Sharkmuffin

5/17: New York, NY @ Cake Shop (w/ The Pharmacy, Shark?)

6/13: Bayonne, NJ @ Lot 13 (w/ Overlake)

6/19: Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool (record release show w/ Slothrust, Sharkmuffin)

6/22: Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie*

6/24: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room*

6/25: Atlanta, GA @ The Star Bar*

6/26: Savannah, GA @ Hang Fire*

6/27: Jacksonville, FL @ Rain Dogs*

6/28: Mobile, AL @ The Blind Mule

6/29: New Orleans, LA @ Hi Ho Lounge*

7/03: Cleveland, OH @ Mahalls*