The Modern Lovers –
S/T
I’ve always wanted to
like Jonathan Richman. But I never could. I like quirky and I like a memorable
tune. I like a person who shuns the idea of being a critics’ darling and
abandons the original sound and then hides in the woods for the rest of his
career. However, Jonathan Richman has always left me cold.
But that’s after one
of the greatest albums of all time. That’s post-1976.
You are not supposed
to listen to music depending on your mood, that’s cheap. The Modern Lovers is case in point. I can play it at any moment in
my life and find something to make me feel better or, at the very least, worse.
That doesn’t even have anything to do with the fact that “Roadrunner” is uplifting,
“Hospital” is depressing and “Pablo Picasso” is hilarious (still; I don’t know
how).
It’s to do with the
fact there’s nothing in this world like full-blown charisma of a shy artist. It
has felt diluted since then.
