Some ‘70s and ‘80 covers band that also sometimes plays “the blues” has been playing at the Taste of Whatever for hours. They’re turned up loud. (I walked up to them to verify that it wasn’t our house acoustics that made it so I could hear vocals from inside.)
I think there was some Tom Petty? Tears for Fears, Steve Miller, and some other former radio dominators.
As a kid, I’d usually describe this kind of music as “weak” and leave it at that. But what I wasn’t getting at was that it was not tough. Listening to the bass and vocals of this stuff makes me realize that this kind of “Taste of Your Town/Area” music is shot through with sentimentality. That’s what gives it its grossness. I’m not really a fan of hyperpop, but it doesn’t have that glaze of glurge, so I’d much rather hear that blasting into my house.
The only good thing this band did is playing the song that It Was a Good Day sampled. Most of the song is boring, but you could sometimes imagine Ice Cube rapping over it.