Lest We Forget: 2009 Electro Pop

If you were listening to electro pop in 2009 I think it's fair to say you also owned a t-shirt with a wolf on it, which was howling to a full moon. Or maybe you had the bear one, or the owl one. Whatever. And you might look back now and feel a shame so deep and real you can feel it in your kneecaps. But really, 2009 was a metamorphosis for those of us tuned into indie culture; crawling out of the dark, angsty years of Conor Oberst and Brand New – "get OUT of my ROOM MUM" – and into a sun-soaked, (literally) ecstasy-filled summer. Like caterpillars emerging from the cocoon.

That year, irony was about as cool as any rhetorical device has ever been or will ever be. For anyone in the business of selling feathers, things were dizzyingly good. Pre-drinks usually meant sitting around one of those glass outdoor table settings, the sun setting and the iPod dock trying it's best to do all that dreamy French synth pop justice. Someone was asking someone "should we take them yet?" and someone else was telling them to lower their voice because the neighbours would hear.

Ever wish you could be back there again? You can be! Sonically. For a bit.

Hooooooo boy. This song. This song is the quintessential 2009 electro pop song. Big call, I know, but I mean it. This is the most uplifting electronic nonsense I've ever heard.

Pretty sure I cried to this song like forty times in 2009. And also a bunch today.

The Portlandia opening credits theme! Not many people know this but back in 2009 "Feel It All Around" was actually the opening credits theme to dropping an MDMA cap and accidentally losing all your friends at a park party.

God, how I wish some horrible advertising agency hadn't ruined this song for everyone. Mf bourgeoisie, dude! Although in reality the young ad exec responsible for said song choice was probably one of our indie bros who just grew up and really needed that commission. I (obviously) feel you dude.

Jeeeeesus Christ. This video is so hard to watch. I know it's offensive but I can't quite put my finger on it. Is it the whole 'tribal' thing? Or is it the hair? Email me if you know.

Literally fuck anyone who thinks this record isn't good. Like, I wouldn't put it on in front of anybody I hadn't known for more than ten years but still.

The official soundtrack of drinking way too much and trying to do something cool and risky, and bruising your coccyx.

I saw La Roux in a New York bar in 2010 and I literally wrote home about it.

I don't want to say anything facetious about Animal Collective because I legitimately respect them and if I ever meet them I don't want it to be awkward. The one thing I will say is that Panda Bear is not a name. That's all.

Now this is an offensive video. Do I need to call the cops on this? Or am I an accomplice because I've technically known about this crime for seven years?

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