“The Moldy Peaches” and the Importance of Physical Media
Written by Jamie Thornton on April 1, 2024
How does a band with only one album from twenty three years ago still have 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify? This is the case for the band “The Moldy Peaches.” A leader in the “anti-folk” genre and a hit of the 2000s New York music scene, The Moldy Peaches disappeared after just one fully produced album and a second album of various snippets and live recordings.
After releasing their self-titled and self-recorded album in 2001 (in which you can hear a phone ringing in the background of ‘Nothing Came Out,’ adding charm), the band didn’t release another full album after and went on hiatus until 2004. They did a few benefit concerts and smaller shows with a few of the members after this, but otherwise were fairly unseen.
Their song “Anyone Else but You” was featured in the movie Juno in 2007, which escalated their fame even more. There’s a shocking difference in the numbers in streaming, as “Anyone Else but You” has over fifty-eight million listens, while “Nothing Came Out” only has four million. The band had overall massive success before the days of streaming, as they supported The Strokes on tour and had their own U.S. headlining tour in 2003.
Even in 2024, the band still has countless songs that aren’t available on streaming. The Moldy Peaches and their success is a testament to the importance of physical media. Having been a fan of the band for years, I had no idea they released another album “The Moldy Peaches Origin Story 1994-1999” in 2022. It’s only available on cassette, CD, or vinyl.
While streaming is an incredibly convenient form of listening to music, it is unreliable because websites can decide to take things off of the platform. This can happen, as Taylor Swift decided to take all of her music off of Spotify due to unfair pay. While it may not be 2002 anymore, and many of us aren’t listening to albums on a CD player as often, the preservation of music physically is so important, as some music is only available in that form.
Overall, “The Moldy Peaches” are a testament to the importance of live music. Everyone loved this album that was released in 2001 with a phone ringing in the background and audible laughter in the lead singer’s voice. They started out as a garage band and still have that sound all these years later. The live music and garage band scene is so important to developing musicians.
“The Moldy Peaches” are a perfect example that there’s really no telling what can happen when a band releases music. Music is all about having fun with friends, and sometimes huge fame can come from it. They announced their first full-band reunion in twenty years on Twitter in 2023, where they played several shows in London, Spain, and a few in Brooklyn, New York. Their sold-out shows even twenty years later is a testament to the power of nostalgia and the incredible power of a fanbase.
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Crob On April 10, 2024 at 8:13 pm
One of my fav bands of all time (shoutout kimya dawson)