Sparks - Angst in My Pants

Sparks – Angst in My Pants

Atlantic, 1982
Acquired: Half Price Books, Used, 2011
Price: $2.50

For all the haterade the 80s get dumped on them, were they really any worse than now? Are the 2010s the new 80s? The fashion is stupid, the popular music is brainless garbage, and the cool music all sounds like the same electronic bullshit that is going to sound incredibly dated by 2020. But that’s just the haterade talking. The haterade that courses through my veins and abates when I find a band that feels honest and genuine. I am reminded that they still exist, and get to avoid the fact that I’m living in the decline. This ties into Sparks because I feel like they were just weird and didn’t give a fuck and had fun. It’s incredibly dated to the era of early 80s synth-pop and new wave, but it’s cool. “Angst in My Pants” came into my life circa 2008 when it popped up on a mix CD a friend gave me. I was told the track was from the Valley Girl soundtrack. And then it never quite left my rotation. It would occasionally come up on shuffle and I’d be like “Oh yeah, this song is weird and catchy and great!” And I found the album a few years after that and that was that. When I finally watched Valley Girl a couple years ago I was dismayed that “Angst in My Pants” was not featured in the film proper. Instead the film uses “Eaten By The Monster of Love” and I cannot for the life of me understand why the soundtrack used a different Sparks song from the same album on the soundtrack instead of the one that was in the actual goddamn movie. Ok ok I figured it out. The point I was trying to make was this: Why does every cool band have to give off the appearance that they are too cool to have fun? Everyone is so fucking SERIOUS about their craft and/or image these days it’s impossible to enjoy anything. Angst in My Pants is enjoyable, dumb, and brilliant and I wish more bands were willing to be brash and more willing to make fools of themselves.