#1 Teenage Boy in Town by Icy Spicy Leoncie
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Oh Hey, whats up! Want to go to the mall? Hang out in the Sharper Image massage chairs? Get stoned in the parking lot and watch people try to ice skate? This song is about this sexy teenager that Lenocie is super into and she’s letting us know all about it from inside some shopping center. Even though ISL is from Iceland, we included this video because it takes place in a mall and we all know Americans love their malls. Icy Spicy Leoncie nails this track and, judging by her swag, I bet she nailed that sweet, innocent 17 year old too. Fuckin’ Cinnabon dude.
#2 Dancing in the Streets by Bruce Springsteen
We were in New Jersey, driving through some crappy part of town and of course we were listening to the boss. Passing by some tired looking man in coveralls waiting for the traffic light to change, Eric leaned over to me and just said “Bruce”. Quickly, we started seeing Bruce in everything: in the closed down brick building that used to be a mill, in the face of the service station attendant that pumped our gas, in the brown bag that housed the bottle of a man who had slept outside the night before. Bruce is as American as Old Glory, a real national treasure starring Nicolas Cage.
#3 Life in LA by Arial Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
West coast loneliness. Traffic. Senior citizens soaking up sun rays in the city of angels. 5 lane freeways separating the canyons and the suburbs. Throw in some saxophone for good measure and you got yourself a day at the beach. AP sings us through the cosmic American west coast calamities.
#4 Steve Don’t Party No More by Mean Jeans
What’s more American than rock & roll? And what’s more rock & roll than the Mean Jeans? Not much dude. Even though Steve don’t party no more, this song and video evoke the Cosmic American attitude of shot-gunning beer, skateboarding, BBQ and string confetti. Das Was Sup.
#5 It Aint Gonna Save Me by Jay Reatard
Between the G.I. Joes, sleazy Ronald McDonald clowns and spoiled princesses, the suburbs can be an oppressive cosmic nightmare. Whether in an act of destruction or creative authenticity, sometimes you just gotta fuck it up and create something unique and real out of all of the plastic. JR provides some good examples of how to do so. Side note: probably not the best idea to destroy some little kids birthday party.
#6 Wheels by The Flying Burrito Brothers
Gram Parsons first coined the term ‘cosmic American music’ while describing The Burritos. Distorting classic country music with flangers and fuzz pedals while adorned in suits embroidered with weed leaves and pills, the FLB encompass all aspects of the cosmic American vibe: the psychedelia, the Americana and the darkness.
