Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of the Morning Show on KEXP, is "Popular (feat. Matthews Caws of Nada Surf)" by Pom Pom Squad, a 2021 single on City Slang.
Back in December, Pom Pom Squad turned a joke tweet into reality when they covered Nada Surf’s “Popular” and remade the classic video shot by shot. “I’m gonna recreate the video for “Popular” by Nada Surf but I’m gonna play every character,” Mia Berrin tweeted in March 2021. Nine months later, that dream was realized.
It’s a fitting tribute for a band that’s built their imagery around cheer parody. Their latest album Death of a Cheerleader saw Berrin explore the coming-of-age high school stories that Matthew Caws was subversing on Nada Surf’s 1996 hit. There are different implications or meanings, though, hearing some of these lines from the voice of a queer woman of color rather than a straight white man.
“Being attractive is the most important thing there is,” goes one the more iconic spoken-word lines from the song. “If you wanna catch the biggest fish in your pond, you have to be as attractive as possible.”
For the video, Pom Pom Squad journeyed back to the same high school the original video was shot and enlisted real students to star alongside Berrin, who plays the teacher, football star, coach, and, of course, cheerleader. For an extra boost of authenticity, Caws joins the band on the football field to play guitar and sing backing vocals.
Watch the video for “Popular” below and catch Pom Pom Squad at Neumos on Friday, March 11th.
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