There are these trends that occur in "popular" music, wherein after a galvanizing explosion of brilliance (Elvis, the Beatles, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana) initially inspires a period of relatively vital and interesting music (as well as a host of cheap knock-offs and corporate ripoffs), there soon follows a period wherein the quality goes down, down, down until it is totally flat and a total embarrassment to be associated with it in any form. We're not quite there yet, but you have to admit, nobody says "grunge" or "Seattle" anymore, and "alternative" is always qualified with some other adjective, and "punk" is mostly associated with 12 year olds.

And so now we come into the interim phase of popular music, wherein the record label people and the opportunist managers and record producers and yes, the musicians, try to pull any and every relatively unused style of music out of their ass and throw it out before the public like a worm on a hook and say "What do you think of this?" Because they haven't the fucking slightest idea why Nirvana worked last time, or what will work this time.

So it's kind of interesting to suddenly find we're in the middle of a 'big band craze' or a 'revival of swing' or in the middle of a 'ska frenzy' or some other bullshit. We've got Top 40 songs that are mining old spy soundtrack vamp stylings, we've got a fucking host of novelty tunes, and there's a million new bands...and records...and hits...and money...

...and you don't have to pay attention to any of it, because in six months, in a year, in 18 months, it's gonna get embarrassingly lame, your younger brother will be all over some watered down version of the watered down version you're listening to now, and there will be used CD bins full of ska and swing and punk, and 15 year olds will be pointing out how lame you were for falling for this crap.

June 1998