Ah, the bond between English boys and California girls. For those of us who arent either, its a bond that fascinates and mystifies. So much of the worlds favorite music comes out of that relationship. – Rob Sheffield
Thanks to the greatest invention of recent years, the MP3-playing alarm clock, I can now choose the song that wakes me up in the morning. – Rob Sheffield
American Horror goes for a very specific kind of Seventies suburban downer ambience – Flowers in the Attic paperbacks, Black Sabbath album covers and late-night flicks like Lets Scare Jessica to Death. It even has Go Ask Alice-era urban legends. – Rob Sheffield
It was R.E.M. who showed other Eighties bands how to get away with ignoring the rules – they lived in some weird town nobody never heard of, they didnt play power chords, they probably couldnt even spell spandex. All they had was songs. – Rob Sheffield