Seventy Eights
Aren’t singles an interesting idea? They’re the tunes we hear on the radio, the ones that are pushed on us in shops. Generally, there’s a good reason for this: these songs are the best on the album that’s being sold, and that means that even if we don’t listen to the radio or go into music shops, the songs that people suggest we hear will generally be singles.
Because of the role of singles in discovering new music, I’ve learned to take that discovery with a pinch of salt. Sometimes, you’re lucky: if your introduction to The Shins is the same as mine (New Slang), you’ll be in for a treat. I’ve enjoyed all of the music I’ve heard from The Shins; the way each track opens a new door or peeks round a new corner has been really lovely.
Sometimes, you’re unlucky: I’d struggle to find a song as surprisingly fantastic as Crystal Fighters “Plage”, but on closer inspection I found it to be a real diamond in the rough. The list of great singles by bands I don’t dig is long: Deep Blue Something, Cyndi Lauper, The Smiths, Foo Fighters, and The Coral, to name a few.
I think this “it’s not all for me” attitude to bands is healthy, really. While there are a few bands that I love unconditionally, that list is mostly made up of acts that no longer write or perform. I guess that’s my way of avoiding a change of mind when a later, weirder album comes along. The bands that spring to mind here are Garbage and Radiohead.
My point, assuming for a second that I have one, is that bands will make the music they want to make, or that they think they can sell to pay the bills. They won’t always make the music you want to hear, but when they do you should embrace it and enjoy it. When they stop, you just stop listening. Do me a favour, and resist shouting Judas.
This is from the