Every year I feel like those pesky back-to-school commercials start earlier and earlier. Before kids can even begin to enjoy summer they’re bombarded with the decision on what to where on the first day of school. This is especially true with reaching college aged kids. Why? Because the decisions you make, the trends you follow, the lifestyle that you choose in college tend to set a standard for the rest of your life. Marketers know this. Advertisers know this. I know this.
Knowing this got me thinking…if there was a band, out right now, that could really fall into that category, who would it be? Of course, there are the classic college bands…The Replacements for the rebel set, Dave Matthews Band for the Greek crowd, Phish for the stoners, Sonic Youth for the liberal arts majors, or The Beatles for everybody in between. These are the bands that most people hear late in high school or early in college and really start to bond to. But what band is carrying that torch right now? The Hold Steady. That’s right, a band with the average age of an estimated 35 years old is the band that college kids everywhere are (or at least should be) falling in love with.
Why? Because they fit in every corner. The rebel set likes them because they’re doing their own thing. They tour with punk bands, they put on a sweaty, lively show, and they aren’t exactly the kind of people you’d bring home to mom and dad. The Greek crowd likes them because they sing about drinking. Their lyrics are as simple and relatable. The stoners like them because honestly, you can imagine getting stoned with these guys. The liberal arts crowd likes them due to some sort of intellectual irony (and also, Pitchfork likes them, so that kind of helps too). Everybody else likes them because they’re catchy, and they seem like relatively normal dudes.
You’re probably wondering what the point of all of this is. The point is, is that I find it really impressive when a band can really cater to so many different audiences. The point is also for any college students who happen to google onto this article. You’re going to have a lot of stuff thrown in your face in the next few years. Make sure to use some sort of a mental colander to strain out the crap. I promise, there’s something refreshing out there. Maybe The Hold Steady will even turn you on to something else. That’s really the point anyways, isn’t it?
1 Comment
July 29, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Man, I sure hope you’re right… most of the kids at my school gravitate towards top 40 crap.