amoryblane
Posts: 40
Joined: 4/22/2009 Status: offline
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An old friend and I were joking today about getting our college punk band back together. This was from the era when my hair was purple, and in huge liberty spikes, and he used to wear combat boots even though he ended up tripping every few feet. Because bruises from tripping over your own feet are the most punk rock bruises of all. Anyway, we talked about a bunch of records we thought we'd never stop listening to that we have long since totally, you know, stopped listening to. Maybe this only makes sense if you're a pretty hopeless music dork, but for me, when I realize I've neglected or outgrown an album that used to mean something to me it can hit as a king-hell bummer. I guess some of the biggies for me are: The Clash, London Calling--Really, me? Really? It's been like, a year, since you listened to this record? At the last party you threw, you played Public Image Limited and Big Audio Dynamite but somehow you're totally blowing off the bloody Clash? WANKER! WANKER! Pulp, A Different Class--Every now and then I still listen to Common People or Underwear, but I haven't listened to this album all the way through in a long long time. Jarvis still has one of the sexiest voices ever. I still love his deadpan wit and threadbare hedonism. I like the way he can't quite keep from letting you know it's all a put-on anyway. But at some point I just lost my appetite for the album. NIN, Pretty Hate Machine--One Christmas break, years and years ago, all we seemed to do was drive around the suburbs listening to "Down In It" and "Ringfinger". Now, I just don't think it would do that much for me. That's partially because I got too into more interesting industrial music and outgrew Reznor, I guess. Modest Mouse, anything, really-- I loved Modest Mouse so hard until Good News for People Who Love Bad News came out, and then it all fell apart. I didn't mind that the record was commercial--rock and roll bands have to eat, after all The sound had just changed so much. It was so...squeaky clean. Slickly produced. It was like when those horrible shrews on television "make over" someone and they end up looking like a mannequin at The Gap. I don't think I've listened to any Modest Mouse songs in years. Maybe I should give their old stuff another go. I've really sort of rambled. Hopefully I'm not just talking to myself here. I honestly believe for a lot of us, though, part of "growing up" (whatever that means) entails leaving behind parts of your cultural baggage you never thought you'd leave behind and then, like a pair of Wayfarers left behind in an airport bar as you scramble to make your flight, they're just gone.
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