I’ll be the old man in some few or many years, cursing the rock radio/stream coming from down the hallway. I’ll mutter, scornfully under my scotch-tinged breath at the naivete of youth, unchecked, “There just aren’t the same sort of great songs anymore. Not like there were when I was young.”
Of course, my scorn will be diffuse. I may not at that time be able to pin down precisely whose songs I’m referring to as ideal, or just when I thought things skewed terribly wrong. Songs will fall in and out of favor based on whim. Sometimes the youngsters will stand up and walk away from the diatribe confused.
Does he like Belle and Sebastian? Or doesn’t he? I can never tell. It will be one of the great days of old age—I’m looking forward to it, immensely.
Among the many songs I won’t curse under my breath about will come from the Superchunk catalog (okay, quite a number of theirs I’ll ask my brood to crank up), not least of which will be “Learned To Surf,” the centerpiece single on their five-track EP Leaves In The Gutter. It’s an energetic, catchy piece of perfect pop/punk rock, the sort of encore track a career road band thrills in handing over to their increasingly cranky fanbase. The acoustic demo is evocative, hushed nuances; at excessive volumes, the slicked-up electric track is worthy of repeated listens. It’s some of their best work ever. Serious talk.
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