We all bleed red


 A couple of years ago my life changed. I was hopped up, wanting to find something new to listen to, and Frank messaged me. “You gotta listen to Underworld,” he said, recommending an album called Dubnobasswithmyheadman.

 

I’d long been interested in electronic music, a fascination that began when I found a copy of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn album in my dad’s collection as a young teen. But I’d never put any real effort into exploring it. Over the years I’d gotten bored with rock. Too often I’d hear something, and it just seemed like the same tired old riffs and ideas being trotted out. Rock had become stale for me. 

 

Where was the new stuff that would challenge me, I wondered? Where was the new music that would change my perception of what was possible with guitars like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine did all those years ago?

 

But with Frank’s recommendation, I had an epiphany. Electronic music sounded like the future. Here was music I could get on board with, fresh sounds and ideas. And so, I dived down rabbit holes, discovering artists like Sydney darkwave musician Buzz Kull and getting lost in New York warehouse trance sets.

 

I felt liberated. Even at 50 I knew I wasn’t resting in the past; I hadn’t fallen into the heinous trap so many of my contemporaries had of only listening to the music of their youth, of not putting the effort into discovering new things. I’d always hated nostalgia. The past was the past. Things were not better then. We were just younger.

 

I still listened to rock, just not as often. Then, about 18 months ago, a band called IDLES came up in my YouTube recommendations and I thought “why not?” I’d heard their name, and wondered what they sounded like.

 

It was a live in the studio KEXP set. From the opening thunderous bass riff, I was captivated. Here was a band that sounded fresh, that wasn’t just retreading the tired old tropes of rock gone by. Then the KEXP set got to the middle of the performance, and the DJ began asking the band questions.

 

Joe Talbot, the singer, talked about love, compassion, inclusiveness and joy. Fuck me, I thought, here’s a band that not only fucking rocks, but articulates the ideas and values I have and uses their platform to promote them. Joe spoke about masculinity in terms of being vulnerable, showing emotions and a willingness to cry.

 

This was something I could connect with. Maybe there is hope for the future if there are bands like IDLES out there using their platform for good. Maybe we’re not as fucked as I thought we were. IDLES’ music is aggressive, but their message is, ultimately, about love. IDLES have changed my life as much as my Underworld epiphany did. Maybe rock isn’t as dead as I thought it was. Maybe…

 

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