We Can Be The Future

Yacht “Plastic Soul”

It’s funny how artists who seem very concerned about us all losing touch with some kind of authentic humanity never seem all that bothered by all the ways previous generations have made life “inauthentic.” It’s always about whatever the popular technology is around at the time – in the 80s and 90s it was always people convince that television was destroying everything, now it’s all about the internet and social media. No one ever wants to roll back the clock much further than what they remember of their childhood, or what they imagine their parents or grandparents’ lives to have been like based on what they’ve gleaned from…media. The video for this song really hits this idea home – the music is very “we’re all like computers now, maaaan,” but the footage is very nostalgic for the late ’80s and early ’90s. I can’t tell whether the band is thoughtlessly undermining itself, or they are intentionally contrasting these ideas to make a point. I do think the song is far, far better than the video, which is so shoddy and devoid of imagination that it threatens to ruin the music by association.

Buy it from DFA.