Music Review // Carbon Leaf "Backmask 1983"

 

If you weren't alive in 1983 and you look back at it now, it might feel too much like a movie or television series.  It's easy to see shows like "Stranger Things" and think about it as a work of fiction, even though many of the elements of it are accurate to the time.   Carbon Leaf takes us back into the past with this song as a reminder that it wasn't just science fiction but rather also history.

In the style of Ultimate Fakebook or Bowling For Soup, there is a pop rock element to this song with those synth keys and electronics.   The mood of the song is just so much fun and energy, as the lyrics come out about topics from the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and UFO's and that's all just within the same line!

As much as people say that we live through dramatic events now, I think that the same amount of drama existed back then we just didn't have the same means to communicate it all and see it all so closely together like we do now.   One of the truths in this song people don't really talk about is: "We saw the Challenger explode on tv", which was rather dramatic and some people might not have known how to react to it with social media.

Whether you're older and looking for a song full of nostalgia or you're younger and can use this song as a learning experience, the general tone of this song is a fun one, something you could put in your playlist at a party and spark conversation with, but ultimately, yes, this is historic and Carbon Leaf just makes learning about history fun.