2004-09-08 - 3:08 a.m.

Every day I have to go to work, all I want to do is go home and listen to my ____ album. Today it was Heavenly.

Just in case you didn�t know about this band.

Oh, and I really wonder about people who don�t listen to music. I was thinking about the Cardigans today, and was wondering if there could ever be a single person on earth who could mount an argument against them.

I mean, seriously, they�re the Cardigans. Who could possibly listen to an entire Cardigans album and say nope, there�s not one thing I like about this band--I hated every song and I don�t think they�re good musicians--I mean, who could say that?

I mean, they appeal to everyone. They write tight pop songs to which ninety people can dance to and of which ten people can admire the craftsmanship.

And it�s not British Sea Power. It�s not Sebadoh. It�s not too easy. It�s not too complicated. There�s no hysterical name dropping because everyone knows them, there�s no U-2 factor because they�re not nearly famous enough to trade humility for a Jim Morrison gut or an Elvis drug problem, or vice-versa. They�re not even from America, so there�s no regional squabble involved, but they�re not a joke like Abba either. Even metal dudes can get amused by their Sabbath covers. So they�re not too famous to be unworthy of hipster consideration, but they�re not too obscure to miss the radar either. They�re not poppy enough to foster a Gin-Blossoms-esque hate club, but they write great pop songs that can please everyone. And unlike, say, Bettie Serveert (their easiest comparison), they never really attached themselves to any sort of movement or era in order to attract a wider audience. There�s no bullshit.

The Cardigans are kind of like the world�s local band.

But then I remember mindsets.

There are people out there, there really are, who would hate the Cardigans (the Cardigans!) if they ever listened to them. I don�t know these people, but they�re out there, in spades, in Massachusetts, and it�s probably, definitely worse in those red states.

But the point is--how does someone go through life without curling into a little ball every now and then? I don�t mean actually curling into a little thumb-sucking ball, either. But it�s a good way to describe what I mean when I say I just want to go home and listen to my Guided By Voices album. I�ve been listening to Heavenly like there�s no tomorrow all night and I love them so much and there�s no way to overdose on Heavenly (just get sick of it, and that�s not going to happen �cause I manage my fixations pretty well, preserving mystery as well as I can handle preserving-not-delving.).

But in the morning--I�m not going to wake up feeling crappy inside, rub my eyes, and blame myself for poor decision making skills.

Mindset. I�m not talking about adults who gave me a hard time when I was a kid over things they didn�t like. I�m talking about people plus or minus ten years of my age. Where do they turn when they need to curl up into a little ball? Film? Books? Okay--that makes sense and I can understand that. Even video games I guess, if it�s a true obsession, or baseball cards or comic books, you can make an argument for it.

But you can�t curl up against pointy concrete edges, and that�s where so many people are. I can�t see how anyone can take any comfort in religion, the pursuit of money, or in trying (even successfully) to bang chicks because they�re hot.

I dunno. I have no idea what I�m talking about. I really hate making stupid obvious points too. And it�s not that I feel above someone who takes his or her comfort in guns, or trucks, or money, or death metal, or in being a dick whenever the opportunity presents itself, or crappy tattoos with eyeballs or keltic writing.

I just feel bad that there�s so much room on the comfy comfort couch, at least as far as I�m concerned, and this is coming from a guy who has never really felt comfortable on that couch, the few times he has been invited to sit there.

The Cardigans are the Beatles of the 90�s but of course we�ll never have the Beatles again because of Nirvana and because nobody wants a Paul McCartney to happen ever again, ever.

But there�s a Heavenly, a Magnetic Fields, and a Softies. There�s enough to go around, but way too many people who would never, ever give the Cardigans a try.

It makes me want to curl up into a little ball and listen to my Guided By Voices album.