Translator is a San Francisco rock band that had success during the 1980s. They created a sound that spanned updated British Merseybeat and stripped-down punk-like rock to psychedelia. Inspired by the Beatles, Cream and 1960s California folk-rock bands such as The Byrds, their guitar-based music was very popular during the early 1980s on non-commercial campus radio and new wave music stations. But unlike similar groups including R.E.M., Translator did not get much exposure on mainstream classic rock radio. The group's stripped-down music and sometimes ironic and disturbing existentialist lyrics also helped to make them a significant influence on the alternative rock of the 1990s.