‘Summer of ’96’, the latest track from Tillerman, draws influences from the best of British music from the sixties right through to the nineties, quite literally turning Bryan Adams’ 1985 hit upside down and creating a nostalgic anthem for the youth of the 1990s.
Swapping out Canadian idiosyncrasies for a familiar British feel, the Leeds-based fourpiece waste no time introducing life as a teenager in the nineties. The first verse adopts a Beatlesque sound, references Oasis’ timeless track ‘Some Might Say’ and concludes on a Gallagher-style guitar lick. Can you get any more British?
The structure keeps itself simple, bouncing from lyrically sound verses into a chorus that can only be described as the lovechild of ‘Octopus’s Garden’ and the entirety of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Each section finds itself assisting the next one beautifully, culminating with an emphatic guitar solo and a bittersweet final minute of what ifs and maybes.
Oozing with references to pop culture, young love and British ways of life, Tillerman use the theme of nostalgia to keep ‘Summer of ’96’ from being a love song, instead an appreciation of times gone by.
An excellent use of influences and experiences to create a fun, heart-warming and rather introspective song about a the ups and downs of 1996, however, I must say the vocal performance seems a little too raw in comparison to how clean the instruments sound.
Nonetheless, Tillerman have written a beautiful track about feelings, nationality and nostalgia. Who doesn’t love nostalgia?
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