There’s a certain kind of song that feels impossible to improve on—so tightly written, so emotionally precise, that any attempt to revisit it risks collapsing under its own reverence. September Gurls by Big Star is one of those songs. Which makes Looser’s take on it all the more compelling: instead of polishing what’s already perfect, they push it somewhere louder, thicker, and unmistakably their own.
Their version arrives as part of Mint 400 Records Presents: 8 Track KnickKnacks (A Compilation of Songs Written In The 1970's), the latest in a long-running series from Mint 400 Records that treats classic material less like sacred text and more like something to be reworked and reimagined. The compilation stretches across the decade’s wide sprawl—pulling from glam, punk, proto-indie, and radio pop—and hands those songs over to artists willing to bend them into new shapes rather than simply recreate them.
For Looser singer Anthony Aquilino, the choice was immediate. “"September Gurls" was an easy choice for us for this comp. It's such a perfectly written song: the melodies are sweet and catchy, and contrast beautifully with the song's lyrical melancholy,” he says. That tension—bright hooks brushing up against something heavier—has long been central to the band’s own songwriting instincts. “It feels like it effortlessly lands everything I strive for as a songwriter.”
Originally, the band leaned toward a softer approach, pulling from the same ‘90s alt-radio lineage that itself traces back to Big Star. But the turning point came mid-session, when drummer Greg Foran pushed things in a different direction. As Aquilino recalls, “guys—I've gotta be honest. I'm a little disappointed. I really thought we were gonna chug today. Can we try chugging a little?” From there, the track snapped into focus. Guitars dropped, fuzz kicked in, and Looser found their footing in something heavier and more immediate.
Aquilino continued “ It immediately felt correct, and we did maybe three takes in that style before feeling like we had it. I had gotten really into classic synth sounds while making Lonely Century, so I added all of the lead guitar melodies from the original song on a Moog. Me and Megan tracked our vocals at my house using my bedroom closet as a vocal booth, and I mixed and mastered the track once those were done. We're pretty hyped with how it came out, and really excited to pay tribute to such a formative influence on our music.”
There’s also a sense of finality baked into the recording itself. Tracked in their Port Richmond space before it flooded, the session unintentionally became a last document of that room—a swan song captured in real time. Fittingly, Looser’s “September Gurls” feels a bit like that too: a tribute that doesn’t just look back, but leaves its own imprint on a song that’s already survived decades of reinvention.