The year is 2006 and Seth Cohen educates a disgruntled Summer Roberts that this is not just “like one guitar and a whole lot of complaining” – it’s Death Cab for Cutie. And yes, they, like him, unironically wear short sleeve shirts over long sleeves. You don’t have to be cool or a water polo player to get that. In fact, all you gotta do is be quirky and have a friend that is quasi-adopted after stealing a car and now blowing a fresh wind into your Orange County-life.
You guessed right: this is only a semi auto-biographical excerpt from my coming-of-age. I have, of course, always been hot stuff – and a skater. Tony’s my bro, we 900ed together just last long weekend.
That being said, Seth, Summer, Ryan, Marissa, Sandy, and about 4 seasons of other more or less bearable characters did have plenty to contribute. Skateboards or not. Actually, the show: “The O.C.” had plenty to contribute. Because plenty of what remains of Josh Schwartz’ teenage drama is heavily anchored in a soundtrack that (I will argue) still has solid holds in a significant swath of Millennials (I think.. someone please ask ChatGPT about what generation would be the affected one).
Anyway, starting from the Transatlanticism poster centrally located on Seth’s bedroom wall, to the in-show “live” performances of bands like The Walkmen, The Killers, The Subways, and Modest Mouse, to Phantom Planet’s anthemic theme song “California”, The OC had plenty of tunes to offer. Enough to warrant(?) five volumes of “Music from The O.C. Mix”, plus a sixth mix of indie bands covering the songs of other indie bands previously featured on the show.
Josh Schwartz and Alex Patsavas, who in large parts ran the show and musical decisions, not only managed to create an international hit show, but also gave indie music a spotlight it had long lacked. Long before Sufjan Stevens had a sort of hay-day from soundtracking “Call Me By Your Name”, The OC managed to bring his auteur indie-folk to a global audience. And not just him, the same goes for plenty of other bands who didn’t have to proactively sell out to go reach their bubble.
With California on my mind, I give to you the “Music from the OC Mix 1” by Various Artists. (For some reason, Spotify only has versions 1, 4 and 6)
Enjoy 🙂
Coryphe 