The Slowdive and Gen Z Edition

On taste, trends, and serendipity

Colin here. Every generation discovers the music of previous generations. I distinctly remember raiding the classic rock section of the [cursed] Columbia House/BMG CD club. At that stage in my exploration, I mainly focused on classics like Led Zeppelin’s 'Houses of the Holy,' leaving more niche genre explorations for when my palate was more refined. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Gen Z is discovering Slowdive, one of my favorite bands, en masse. Thanks to streaming services and platform algorithms surfacing increasingly obscure tracks, the band has somewhat surprisingly become a cult favorite among younger listeners: the hashtag has over 200 million views on TikTok.  It's beautiful to witness this serendipity, and it's also great to see such an iconic band receive a new surge of interest. This short clip from band member Nick Chaplins sums it up nicely. 

The Standard explains:

…if you'd have told the five-piece band that 27 years later they would be reunited and headlining London’s 3,000-capacity Troxy on the back of their first Top 10 album, with scores of teenagers sobbing at songs they consider classic anthems, and you’d have been met with incredulity.

In the last few years especially, the rise of TikTok has brought the band a surprising new fanbase of teens obsessed with their widescreen brand of rock. Scour the app and you’ll see scores of videos soundtracked by the band’s 1993 song When The Sun Hits, where users work through their issues or tell stories from their lives with the song as a canvas. Videos include short films detailing the pain of long-distance relationships and discussions about mental health and the healing power of music. The track’s lyrical refrain – “it matters where you are”' – has been scrawled onto bedroom walls and inspired tattoos.

Why is this interesting? 

Today, where music discovery often seems meticulously orchestrated with strategic album releases and mastery of promotion on social platforms, it's delightful to learn about teens accidentally stumbling upon a sound or scene and revitalizing it. It's also fun to remember that certain themes are timeless in teenage years (such as love and longing), which Slowdive captures perfectly. As one band member explains, “Souvlaki and Pygmalion have a distinctly teenage quality, largely because we were teenagers when we made them. The young listeners empathize with that angst. You see it at our gigs when they sing along to the songs.” (CJN)