18 years of Cool, Stereolab

I'm going to say the name of a popular underground indie band and you're probably going to shudder with how immeasurably cool they are. Stereolab. There, I said it. Shuddering? Quintessentially cool, atypically fresh, and much longer-lasting than Big Red. Even the name is money.

Stereolab has been the soundtrack for cool kids to screw to since 1990, so long that those cool kids are now probably in their 40's and their cool kids will soon be screwing to Chemical Chords. This is the circle we live in, and this is the staying power of this unique band. They've lived through the grunge era and the accidental death of a talented band member. They've outlasted countless sound-alikes, influenced hundreds of bands (Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, The Little Ones, Crystal Skulls), and practically invented "post-rock". They were kind of like the Broken Social Scene of the '90s, their little fingers dabbling in numerous side-projects and other outlets.

If you loved High Fidelity. If you supported the space program. If you dig the Velvet Underground. If you gobbled Pez like it was going out of style. If Max Headroom is your hero. If you see your dreams in technicolor. If your parents were the cool kids mentioned above.

Stereolab is here for you.

Listen:
Three Women
[from Chemical Chords (out 8.19)|buy]
Miss Modular
[from Dots and Loops|buy]