OK, there’s this concept that I have a hard time putting into words, mostly because it involves so many vague references and so many different things that I’m thinking about. But I’m going to try anyway. Here goes.
I’ve always noticed this sort of pop-cultural connection between garage rock and those 50s sci-fi B-movies that came out of the cold war culture. All those laughably bad black-and-white monster/alien movies that not-so-subtly allude to the threat of communism, the space race between America and Russia, and the like. The whole pop imagery of the guy with combed-over hair and glasses and a pipe and a cardigan sweater and the woman with big hair. Those deep-voiced narration vocals like the host of the Twilight Zone. These things all seem to get juxtaposed with garage rock. When I say garage rock, I mean the old kind of garage rock that they play on Little Steven’s Underground Garage, that really British-sounding kind of garage rock with jangly, distorted guitars, and vocal harmonies, and drums that always sound improperly mic’d and too trebley. Maybe the Yardbirds would be a good example, but I’m not even sure about that. Or the Animals. I don’t know. All the garage rock songs on the Underground Garage are all kind of a blur to me.
But interspersed with these songs, on that show, are all these Twilight Zone-sounding soundbites. Like, a deep, straight-to-the-point-no-nonsense-50s-guy voice that says, “Do not attempt to adjust your television set. We are controlling transmissions” at the beginning of the show. And, then after “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” is repeated over and over again, getting higher in pitch and speed each time, there’s this deep, fiendish-sounding laughter that sounds like it’s from one of those 50s horror movies. It’s like whoever designed that show was specifically trying to get the viewer to envision this Twilight-Zone-esque world where the soundtrack is gritty garage rock to go along with the dark, black-and-white, low-budget movie feel. Or something. Like I said, it’s hard for me to explain.
Several of the local places that I go to that have a deliberate punk-rock/garage-rock vibe to them (for example, a vintage clothing store, and a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint with punk memorabilia everywhere) also have stuff on the walls, like posters and whatnot, that evoke this whole 50s sci-fi theme.
Am I right in noticing this connection? Have I done a decent, albeit clumsy, job of explaining what I’ve picked up on? Has anyone else noticed this?