The band Jack Antonoff called the “modern Beatles”
As the 1990s were dawning, rock fans were looking for a different kind of ride than what they had been sold for the past decade. After years of poodle-haired “rock stars” strutting their stuff on MTV, acts like Nirvana ushered in a new era for rock and roll with songs that were as catchy as they were authentic. Although everyone and their mother found something to relate to in acts like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, it never suited Jack Antonoff all that well.
When first coming of age in the decade of irony, Antonoff discussed not feeling quite at home with the Seattle sound, telling Rolling Stone: “The Seattle thing was so huge, but that sound was always a little too rough for me”. Instead of the dark sounds of a band like Alice in Chains, Antonoff would gravitate towards the sounds of power-pop.
In the wake of Kurt Cobain’s death, Antonoff had found his calling playing radio-friendly rock songs from artists like Green Day and Weezer, going so far as to bleach his hair to mimic the mannerisms of Billie Joe Armstrong. However, Antonoff found a perfect album coming out of England as the decade progressed.
Once the Britpop wave of Oasis and Blur faded, Antonoff was drawn to the sounds of Radiohead’s OK Computer. Coming from their roots as borderline one-hit wonders, Thom Yorke’s inner fears about the dangers of technology became one of the last rock and roll events of the decade as he struggled to come to terms with machines, travel, and his own sanity on tracks like ‘No Surprises’ and ‘Paranoid Android’.
Though Radiohead was only looking to serve their muse, Antonoff knew he was listening to something timeless from the start. He continued: “There was so much British stuff going on. This sounded like modern Beatles. Thom Yorke’s melodies reminded me of the darker melodies I’d heard in synagogue”.
It’s not hard to see where that Beatles influence was coming from. For as forward-looking as some of the production may seem, the band were indebted to the sounds of classic rock when making OK Computer, as evidenced by them lifting the chord sequence of ‘Sexy Sadie’ from The White Album for ‘Karma Police’ and using a Beach Boys-esque glockenspiel when coming up with the melodic line for ‘No Surprises’.
As rock music continued to innovate, Antonoff’s knack for production led to him making the same bold decisions with his bands Bleachers and fun. For all of the cheeky songs that may have come from an album like Some Nights, Antonoff seemed to aim for the same grandeur that OK Computer inspired in him, making something that he hoped could mean more than just the traditional pop song.
Although there is still a straight-ahead focus on rock throughout most of Antonoff’s solo work, his interest in different sonic textures has carried him through working with some of the biggest artists in the world, from Lorde to Lana Del Rey to Taylor Swift. Given his knack for incorporating a few digital elements into his studio work, Antonoff remains a child of the world that OK Computer helped create.
