When I was a kid, my parents always listened to 50s and 60s music on KOOL 108. I grew up on the Beach Boys and the Beatles. I liked the oldies and I didn’t think much of it. As I grew up I eventually started listening to pop music and I eventually fell in love with the pop punk of the 90s. Fast forward to last week and a strange thing happened.
I was driving on a backroad of Kanabec County on a beautiful sunny day and I followed my summertime instincts and put on Reel Big Fish. Listening to Beer, Ban the Tube Top, and She’s Famous Now I was horrified to realize that these songs don’t pack the same emotional punch for me that they have for more than a decade. It made me sad, it feels like I lost a part of myself.
At some point last year, I realized that my taste in music had largely stagnated. I have always appreciated a wide range of styles, with a preference for pop punk and ska. If you had asked me in 2000 who my favorite bands were, it would have looked something like:
- Barnaked Ladies
- Eve 6
- Green Day
- The Offspring
- Blink 182
If you were to ask me today – a lot of those same bands are still near the top of the list. When did I stop falling in love with new bands? Does this happen to everyone? Honestly, the last “current” bands that I was really into were Weezer and Muse.
I find my taste is still somewhat dynamic with Country music. While I’m not in love with any current bands, I can usually turn on the radio and hear something I enjoy. The most recent country song that I’ve been into is Whiskey Glasses by Morgan Wallen, which came out in 2018.
Perhaps part of the issue is my love of podcasts. My primary time to listen to things is in the car, the last few years’ drive times have been taken up by The Fantasy Focus Football Podcast and The Game Informer Show. I went roughly four years without missing an episode of either. In the two years since my daughter was born, we play a bit of music but I’m not exactly rocking out.
I brought this up with a group of my gaming friends, and they had unwittingly fallen into the same lull. Is this a natural part of aging? Are we all doomed to remain to the bands we followed in our formative years? Or is a byproduct of a streaming age? We can listen to whoever we want to on Spotify, so our tastes never grow and evolve. My friends and I traded some notes on bands and I learned about gems like Ninja Sex Party.
I do listen to a fair amount of Spotify at work, especially now that I work from home. I had stumbled across the Your Discover Weekly playlist some time ago and now I rarely miss it. It’s a new playlist every week of curated music tailored to your tastes.
This playlist has led me to some artists that I really enjoy – like Jonathan Coulton, Brentalfloss and Suburban Legends. Coulton’s Code Monkey is one of my go-to songs when I need a little pep, Brentalfloss has some awesome gaming tunes and Suburban Legends did a number of ska covers to Disney songs.
The Spotify algorithm does an amazing job of surfacing music that fits my tastes. The computer even introduced me to my new favorite song and an artist that has completely captured my imagination. Be Glad I Love You (Go to Bed) is Bug Hunter’s second most popular song on Spotify with over 740,00 plays. This jam has become my anthem.
The main character in the song is contemplating why his partner loves him. I relate to the line You deserve a macho man but all you’ve got is this annoying nerd. The introspective evaluation of the protagonist’s insecurities feels like the thoughts that often rattle around in my own head and the melody is infectious. On a whim, I reached out to Bug to tell him that I love his album The Rough Draft and he was kind enough to join us on the August edition of the show.
Even though I’m pushing 40, I still enjoy a lot of the music that I loved in my 20s. In a few short years I’m sure my daughter will be mortified when I’m rocking out to Inside Out by Eve 6, but hey, before long I can hear all my jams on KOOLl 108. It’s like a Sith apprentice becoming a master, the circle is nearly complete.
What’s New at OiO
A Schnazzy New Look
Thanks to the generous support of our corporate sponsor Premier Health and our backers on Patreon, we were able to afford some professional graphics. We hope you enjoy the new logo!
Episode 26 of Outside is Overrated – Stonemaier Games
In the latest episode of the podcast, Tom, Joey and Casey share their impressions on four Stonemaier Games: Viticulture, Wingspan, Tapestry and Scythe. In the back half of the show, Tom interviews Jamey Stegmaier, the head of Stonemaier Games.
The Rogue Hippo is Back in the Game
After living for ages on a sailboat with limited electricity, the Rogue Hippo is back on the grid. Check out everything he has been playing on his extensive backlog.
Support OiO on Patreon
If you enjoy our content, please support Outside is Overrated on Patreon. Donation tiers start at $2, at $10 you get access to an exclusive podcast from Tom and Joey.
Thank you so much for reading my column this month. Until next time, stay inside kids!