-Music Videos on my Mind- Smith Westerns’ “Varsity”

The UK news channels reported on a devastating tornado that hit the US heartland last week, however, one gets the impression that had the tables turned then American audiences may not be as concerned about our welfare unless it affected the Royal Family and cast of Downton Abbey.

But there is another kind of American Anglophile that seriously loves British culture in ways that are fascinating. They are the ones that eschew predictably popular aspects of Britain and home in on cool elements like our fashion and music.

Smith Westerns is a Chicago indie rock band that claims ‘90s Britpop as one of its chief music influences, along with a load of other notable British artists. This is bizarre when we consider how little impact Britpop made internationally. Britpop was the antithesis of what Americans traditionally respond to because it often revolved around middle-class art school graduates pretending to be working-class lads that posed for the press with a lager in one hand and their other arm around a Page 3 girl, all the while feigning a love for football not classic literature.

Nonetheless, Britpop produced some very good songs and this American effort is enjoyable too. Remember: true Brits choose democracy, not monarchy.