Some music seems tailor-made for John Hughes movies, particularly those moments in films like The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles that capture the rush of youth: The boom box is blaring, the prom's not a total disaster, and when you hang your head out of the car window, your hair never winds up in your mouth. On Adult Nights, the New Hampshire band Wild Light writes songs for those occasions, giving grand moments a perfect soundtrack.
Great rock and pop bands can find the emotion in melodies: Everyone from The Beach Boys to The Arcade Fire has written choruses without lyrics, so Wild Light is in good company when it dissolves into "na na na na"s in "New Hampshire." As the band sketches out vague memories of life in its home state, not every word evokes love and family; the song opens with repeated references to a car crash. But warmth and nostalgia invariably shine through, letting the melodies soar and speak for themselves.
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