Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500 on some of his favourite modern albums
Dean Wareham’s “high wail” vocals and distinctive guitar voicings made an infernal entry to the American alt-rock scene in the late 1980s. As the frontman and co-founder of Galaxie 500, Wareham shaped out a genre of its own informed by the gritty wit of The Velvet Underground, the songwriting prowess of Jonathan Richman and the psychedelic mystique of Spacemen 3.
Although Galaxie 500 only made three albums during their ephemeral spell, between 1987 and 1991, they remain an indelible presence on the indie rock tapestry. After leaving Galaxie 500 in 1991, Wareham went on to cut a similar trail of cult popularity fronting Luna.
In 2000, Britta Phillips joined Luna, replacing bassist Justin Harwood. Wareham and Phillips became romantically entwined and got married in 2006. The pair remain happily married to this day and between Luna reunions, create music together as Dean & Britta.
In a 2021 interview with Concrete Islands, Wareham discussed his experience during the Covid-19 lockdown period. “On a personal level, it was fine; Los Angeles, of course, has nice weather and we had some outdoor space,” he explained. “We made the best of it; we stayed safe and were fortunate not to get sick. And Britta and I were lucky to be two musicians living under one roof. Of course, the pandemic exposed how unequal America is — as if we needed reminding — but it could be seen clearly in neighbourhood maps of where Covid was spreading here in LA County.”
During lockdown, Wareham and Britta were forced to live-stream concerts from home. “I didn’t want to do it at first, but then we were asked to do a benefit — for rent control in Los Angeles — which is a good cause,” Wareham said. “We did that, and it was a challenge, but also it was fun connecting with people, so we kept doing it, and learned as we went, how to make it look and sound better. By the time we did our Christmas special our drummer Roger brought his multi-track recording set up into the house, so we were a three-piece band and the mixes sounded really good.”
In 2020, Dean & Britta released an album made at home during the lockdown period aptly titled The Quarantine Tapes. “Those recordings sound intimate. Obviously they are more stripped down, sometimes just voices, acoustic guitar and bass guitar, so the vocals are more front and centre — I really love ‘He Dines out on Death’ by Cristina Monet Zilkha and ‘The Carnival is Over’ by The Seekers — two [cover] songs we tried to record ten years ago but never finished, and then the titles jumped out at me as being especially relevant.”
Later in the conversation, Wareham was asked about his modern listening habits and challenged to pick out a few of his favourite new releases. “My favourite records this year were Magic Touch by Jack Name and Two Years by Whitney K, also the Karen Black album that Cass McCombs put together [Dreaming of You (1971-1976)]. And I really like what I’ve heard from the new Rose City Band album [Earth Trip].”
At the end of the interview, Wareham was asked whether he could ever envisage himself retiring from music. “Well, it’s odd, you make a record, and feel really good about it, and then the question is — how and when can I do that again? Which is a self-imposed pressure — I should be writing songs all the time, right? Unfortunately, I’m not that disciplined,” he replied.
“Bob Dylan said somewhere recently that there is no reason for anyone to write a new song, they are all written already. But then he goes and releases some great new songs that only he could have written. Retiring sounds okay to me, but I feel I may have a few more songs to write and covers to record. And we have to keep working so we can buy health insurance.”
Listen to Dean and Britta’s cover of Cristina Monet Zilkha’s ‘He Dines out on Death’ below.
