I’ve gotten past the point of having anything remotely relevant to say
about indie rock. I just don’t, and it may be a disservice to budding rock
bands, but I’m not in college anymore, my Built to Spill and Modest Mouse and
Promise Ring and Unrest and Helium and Superchunk and Versus days are far
behind me. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this music, it’s that I’ve just said
it all before, in a less exhausted voice in a thousand conversations with
likeminded fans.
Maybe there’s a narrative here, where the past comes to repeat itself
over and over and we can’t escape the cycle. I mean, in 1996 everybody was
probably sick of talking about The Replacements and Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr.
and Pixies and My Bloody Valentine, and I was a wide-eyed and fresh-faced
youngster ready for action. We’ve all been there, and we’ll all be there again.
Someday Robot Princess will shake their heads at the kids discovering Speedy
Ortiz and LVL UP and Radiator Hospital and Bleeding Rainbow and a million other
rock bands who are all good and who all deserve the same amount of respect and
admiration.
Does it get diluted down through the years*? I dunno. People don’t, I
can’t comment on bands. If you want to live in the absolute now, then there’s
Robot Princess from Brooklyn. They’re a five-piece, they make energetic and fun
music, and you should pay attention to them. They’re just super likable, and
I’m not gonna get down on this whole deal anymore. I’m actually cracking a
smile right now, and for that I thank Robot Princess. I hope they sell a lot of
these tapes, because they should. They’re for everyone, even bastardy old
curmudgeons like me!
--Ryan Masteller
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