Every once in awhile I get made fun of on The Boards because of my tendency to be wayyyyy behind on popular music. They'll call me Ace, as in Ace of Base, as in supposedly I've just heard of, and am just now listening to, the Swedish pop group Ace of Base who dominated the airwaves in 1994.
And I have no comeback; the nickname fits. For every Vampire Weekend or Lumineers or Robert Randolph or Ludacris that I'm in on from the beginning, there's multiple artists that I don't listen to until years after they're popular. Obviously, at the height of their respective popularity, I'm aware that all these bands exist....I just don't really listen to them.
Just to be clear, we're talking about bands that I was old enough to get into when they were popular. Obviously, when I discovered Led Zeppelin or Run DMC or Bob Marley, etc. etc. etc., I was years or even decades behind, but for obvious reasons. Also, we're not talking about shitheads like Justin Bieber or Nickelback or Taylor Swift. Not listening to their music is an active lifestyle choice I'm making.
It seems like every year, I have at least one band that, for one reason or another, randomly slides into my life, and I decide I'm going to dive in all the way and see what all the fuss was about. The recent list looks like this:
2008- Hootie & the Blowfish: Ohhhh, so THIS is what everyone was going crazy about in 6th grade! (Note: I don't mean that sarcastically. Dammit, those songs are catchy. I can legitimately see why they were so huge back in the day. So much fun to sing along and do your best Hootie voice. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT LIIIIFE IS LIIIIIIIIIIKE! Classic).
2009- Weezer: It's good to know that this band exists outside the realm of "Buddy Holly", which I loved when I was a youngster. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed a bunch of their other songs.
2010- White Stripes: Is it bad that I sorta patted myself on the back for getting into the Stripes only seven years after they were at their coolest? Probably. Also, is it cool to shorten it up and just call them the Stripes? Was that ever a thing? Probably not.
2011- Nirvana: I don't know if this makes me a poseur or not (I realize that becoming a Nirvana fan 17 years after Cobain ate his shotgun makes me a poseur already, but just work with me here) but my favorite Nirvana song is Sliver. The premise of the song is kinda bullshit, which makes me think that *real* Nirvana fans probably look down on it, but whatever- that song effing rocks. Zidon sisters, back me up here.
2012- Dave Matthews Band: This one actually wasn't my choice. Gangel, one of the most diehard DMB fans I've ever seen, burned me a CD full of his favorite tracks and gave it to me as a gift-- either because he truly enjoys to share the music he loves....or because he was tired of listening to my iPod and never having any DMB options.
(Side note: I used to do this all the time with old girlfriends, back in the days before iPods. I'd burn a CD with a bunch of my favorite songs, stash it in their glove compartment, then "find it" when we'd be riding in their car. "What are we listening to? John Mayer again, huh? Oh word, what's this CD you have laying around? It doesn't have any writing on it, let's try it out! All riiiight, little Public Enemy? Nas? ANNNND Westside Connection? Nice!")
Anyway, here in 2013, the new music in my life belongs to The Strokes....a full 11 years after they burst onto the scene. You guys should totally check them out. They could be the next Ace of Base!
