The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #177

#177: "Yeah Baby" (2003) - The Fondas

A friend of mine once instructed me/our band to, "play what you play and do what you can with what you can;" well, this philosophy might not exactly apply to The Fonda's recording technique--as I suspect that this record might be deliverately low-fi, and indeed that low-fi sound gives the song some of its charm--but in my mind, I romanticize their situation as having this great pop song--with its girl-group verse structure, its girl-group harmonies, its great jangly guitar lines, and its rocket propulsion--and having to record it themselves on the cheap 'cause they can't get a record deal 'cause they don't easily fit into any key demographic.

Whil I'm dreaming, I also envision what this song would sound like with a great producer, and it's a bittersweet vision: I can hear how perfect this song could be, I can see this song--possibly attached to PG-13 teen romance movie--hitting it big, making it into the Top 10, maybe all the way to the top, and then I come to my senses, realizing that this sort of thing rarely happens these days, and that it won't happen with this record, and I silently grieve for just a moment.

Then, though, I realize that the best I can do is quit my bellyaching, enjoy the record for what it is, pass along that joy to others, and hope that maybe--someday--such records as these won't get overlooked by the masses.