Spearmint

Posted by jill on September 6, 2009

Is the 90s indie revival coming? Or, to be exact, are Spearmint about the get the credit they deserve? They are a band I fell in love with back in 1997, when I first heard Sweeping the Nation, one of the greatest 3 minute pop songs ever written. Followed them for a couple of great albums after A Week Away, but then ashamedly fell off my radar for the last few years.
But then suddenly this year they’ve returned to my attention, not because of a new album or recent live shows (in fact I will miss their only UK show this year because I will be out of the country), but through a comic book and a film.
I came across the comic book by chance in Gosh!, looking for some new comics to read. On buying the book, which is a collection of comics inspired by songs by the band and Shirley Lee, I immediately rushed home and listened to all my Spearmint albums for the first time in years. It just about made sense that a cult indie band would inspire a whole collection of comic book sketches.
However, more surprising, was hearing their name mentioned in a throwaway comment in 500 Days of Summer, name dropped by an American actor. It’s sad to think that most of the audience won’t pick up on the reference, but maybe there will be a few who might track down the music just because of that one reference.