“The Sound”
from the album Summer of Fear
2009
iTunes
To be perfectly blunt, the sound on “The Sound” by Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is nothing less than the sound of fear, not to mention loathing. Aided and abetted by hipster royalty — including Grizzly Bear’s Chris Bear and TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone — Robinson recorded an entire album’s worth of autobiographical songs about the summer of 2007, the aptly-titled Summer of Fear.
Robinson wrote this particular song, “The Sound,” on Bear’s Wurlitzer during one of the nights he crashed on Bear’s couch that summer. “It was meant to be listened to in a well air-conditioned car,” Robinson told Spinner.com. “It is mostly about missed opportunities, lowered expectations and the discomfort caused by both dreams and nostalgia in a constantly changing world.”
Well, now that he mentions it, the tune does sound a little nostalgic. Proving that he’s as sardonic as the next hipster, Robinson adds, “I think it is meant to be an ‘authentic statement about how our generation is unique.’ Do you remember rock ‘n’ roll radio?” Yes, we do. And we can only guess that the Ramones would be proud.