"Puttin' on the Ritz" by Irving Berlin (as performed by Shiny Toy Guns)

Shiny Toy Guns is a synth-pop band from California. As a rule, the most retro they get is their heavy 80s influence but they have some really great covers of older songs. Most notably, they did a really brilliant version of David Bowie's "Major Tom" that had me wanting a Lincoln MKZ for the longest time. In fact, I'm pretty sure that commercial was my first introduction to Shiny Toy Guns and, not-so-coincidentally, they started getting fairly well-known after it aired during that year's Superbowl.

The original song, "Puttin' on the Ritz" was written by Irving Berlin for the classic Fred Astaire film of the same name. Although the movie came out in 1930, Berlin wrote it in 1927. After the movie came out, this song quickly became the number one song on the radio. It's emblematic of an era. The title and lyrics are derived from 1920s slang meaning "dressing fashionably," as if you were dining at The Ritz Hotel in London, a popular establishment for the jet set of the 20s and 30s. And here is where we meet a particular branch of dieselpunk, known as Decopunk.

Have you seen the well-to-do?

Up and down Park Avenue

On that famous thoroughfare

With their noses in the air

High hats and arrow collars

White spats and lots of dollars

Spending every dime for a wonderful time

Decopunk derives its name from the Art Deco style that was popular during the 20s and 30s. Although during the same time frame as regular Dieselpunk, Decopunk tends to be cleaner and shinier. It tends to focus on the wealthier, freewheeling times of the 1920s. Everything has a sleeker, more glamorous look to it. Like all retro-futurist genres, it's highly influenced by the fashions of this time period. Flappers in fringe and gentlemen wearing top hats and tails are the hallmarks of the style. This time period also encompasses the Jazz age and prohibition, so stories based in this era tend to revolve around lavish parties and bootlegging operations.

The 1920s is one of my favorite eras, along with the French Revolution and La Belle Epoque. Also not-so-coincidentally, French culture is a heavy influence in all three of these time periods. The French had an insatiable appetite for importing Jazz music from the United States and, in return, they provided us the simplified fashion and the foundations of Art Deco. Art Deco heavily influenced American architecture - the clean lines and rounded arches that are indicative of the style can be seen in everything from the Empire State Building (and pretty much the whole New York skyline) to high schools in California. It eventually evolved into the softer, more understated Streamline Moderne of the 1920s.

So, you're intrigued by Decopunk and would like to absorb it into your aesthetic? You have plenty of examples to choose from. My favorites are definitely the first two Bioshock videos games, which are fun to play and beautiful to look at (if you're a gamer). You can enjoy some electro-swing, courtesy of artists like Caravan Palace, Parov Stelar, and Caro Emerald. There's plenty of films you can enjoy from the 1920s (all of which are pre-Code) like "Metropolis" or modern films with a heavy decopunk influence like "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," the Batman movies directed by Tim Burton (and, honestly, Batman in general is on the darker side of decopunk), and the "Fantastic Beasts" films (if you're a Harry Potter fan, like myself). I always recommend "The Great Gatsby" to read, because I love F. Scott Fitzgerald (who doesn't?). I haven't seen the Baz Luhrmann film starring Leonardo DiCaprio but it looks pretty good and has that glamorous-ness Luhrmann injects into all his work. If you really want to get into it, you can spend the better part of a month watching the last three seasons of "Downton Abbey" and "Boardwalk Empire." Or, you can just sit back in tuxedo and enjoy a classic Gin & Tonic. As it is my favorite drink, I've hunted down a recipe to share.

Classic Gin & Tonic

2 oz gin

4 oz tonic water

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 lime wedge (for garnish)

Place ice cubes in a tall, narrow glass with the ice coming near the top. Pour gin, tonic water, and lime juice over the ice. Stir well with a long-necked spoon. Garnish with lime wedge, and serve immediately.

Honestly, as with every retro-futurist aesthetic, the point is to have fun. And there's a lot about decopunk to enjoy. However, you will have to do some digging - as a subgenre, decopunk is relatively new so there's not a whole lot of information out there compiled into a single place for folks to discover. But maybe that's a good thing - it just means you'll have to do some exploring to find out what you like. Happy flapping!

"Puttin' on the Ritz" Video