Many years ago, American Laundromat, an american Indie label, got in touch. They’ve read my constant bigging up of Repo Man and they had a tribute album to the film. I got a review copy and was happily surprised on the new takes on songs I’ve loved since I was a kid.

Repo Man is such a weird flick and it’s something that could’ve been created in Reagan’s America, even if the social message is still relevant today. Those Darlins took the hardest task: covering Iggy Pop’s Repo Man, the theme tune for the album. Their version is spectacular.

In 2014, while roaming around SXSW, Heidi and Bryan Vaughan, the fine people from Paper Garden Records got in touch. I’ve reviewed a few of their releases and they invited me to an industry showcase. Alvvays and Those Darlins were some of the bands that performed that day. I loved both, but I decided to approach Those Darlins, as they were my fave of the day.

They asked why my t-shirt said “Wet Nuns” and it took some explaining and many guffaws to tell the tale of Wet Nuns, Sheffield’s finest Alabama death country metal band. Those Darlins signed my copy of Blur the Line and waved goodbye. We mentioned catching up real soon.

And soon never happened. They split in 2016 and in 2017, lead singer Jessi Zazu passed away, way too young. Heidi Vaughan Greenwood from Paper Garden would also pass away from cancer in 2023. It’s a shame as both were strong, talented people that I barely got to know, but were kind when I met them.

So here’s Optimist, in its censored form since YouTube is run by fucking prudes.

-Sam J. Valdés López