2020 Gift Guide - The Best Gifts For Pop Culture Junkies
Yes, this year is a moebius strip endlessly chugging forward with no regard to the fact that your brain is no longer able to accurately track time. But just because you’ve become unstuck from reality, drifting alone in an endless void of dream logic and doomscrolling, that doesn’t mean you just get to shirk your obligations to buy rad holiday gifts for the pop culture-obsessed dads and moms in your life. So let’s do this.
Heck yeah, I’m starting this off with a water bottle! Not only will it keep you alive by storing water and keep that water very cold for 24 hours, it’s smarter than your dog and cleans itself automatically every two hours via an insane-sounding UV-C LED light that eliminates “99.9999% of bio-contaminants” and also keeps it from smelling gross.
Bob Mould – “Distortion 1989 – 2019”
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that on the Venn diagram of “People who still listen to CDs” and “hardcore Bob Mould fans” you’ll get a near total eclipse overlap which is why a 24-disc CD boxset of the punk icon’s post-Husker Du career output (including the entire recorded output of his seminal band Sugar, out-of-print rarities and live material) is a no brainer. Impressive, unexpected and awesome in the way only a 24-disc CD boxset in 2020 can be.
“Where’s Prince?” Hardcover Book
It’s “Where’s Waldo?” but with the Purple One. Sheer brilliance and exactly what we all need right now. Perhaps best to pair with one of the gargantuan and impeccably curated Legacy reissues the Prince Estate has been gifting the world as of late.
Zed Pintail Longboard from Retrospec
Perfect for those of us with balance-issues and a deep yearning to be a Z-Boy. Also these retro boards are great for casually following toddlers on scooters, toddlers on balance bikes, toddlers on small motorized vehicles and also fast, angry toddlers that have escaped from their leashes (jk..sort of).
Steely Dan Bard College & Steely Dan tees
For your loved ones whose primary life goal is to get more complements from people that work at record stores. These fun tees from Fine Southern Gentlemen blend punk classism and smooth AM rock cheese even better than whatever band you’re currently listening to on Spotify’s Ultimate Indie playlist.
This is perfect for the completist who has been using Quarantine Times to catch up on cinema history or for folks with kids old enough to watch “Pulp Fiction” (so at least like, eight years-old, right?). It’s cool, it’s interactive and if you hang up behind your desk it becomes a total subtle-brag talking point for all your future Zoom meetings.
This is so incredibly specific that if this gift is right for your pop culture-obsessed loved one than it’s gonna be really, really right. Do they have a beard and really, really love the unclassifiable (and awesome) 2019 Robert Pattinson/Willem Dafoe film “The Lighthouse” and also really dig the scent of cornmint and Gurjun Balsam? But also who wouldn’t want to smell like “sea foam, black waves, biblical storms and debauchery”? It’s also worth rooting through A24’s online shop for more cinematic curios like a mini-puzzle of Lady Bird’s cast or the beautifully bound book-version of the screenplay for “Hereditary.”
“The Story of Herbie Hancock” Vinyl Me Please Anthology Set
A pricy-but-totally-worth-it big ticket box set of one of music’s most relentless innovators. Herbie himself chose which albums were included and his selections span five decades of genre-shifting experimentation. Plus these unrelentingly cool albums are perfect for displaying as art objects around your living spaces. And it’s scientific fact that listening to jazz makes you at least 38% smarter. (Editor’s note: just to be clear, that is not actually a “scientific fact.”)
A professionally refurbished camera that comes with adult stickers! Who wouldn’t vibe off this slice of instant-photo awesomeness? Make sure to also pick up some Polaroid 600 film to complete the package.
Billie Eilish Signature Ukulele
Because. Just because.
Happy Shopping!
-Chris AKA “Pop Culture Dad”
Looking for more gift ideas? Check out our additional gifts guides:
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