Here I Go Again

A mid-morning good word for Marshall Crenshaw, whose first two albums, Marshall Crenshaw (1982) and Field Day (1983), I feel comfortable saying every pop fan should own. (For the record, pun totally intended, those are the only two of his albums I've been able to track down, although the two-disc best-of available on CD, which I'm still tracking down the budget for, looks fantastic.) I'm putting aside my educational impulses here and recommending them merely at my heart's behest, that is to say, because I believe they will bring you joy. Cards on the table: Marshall and I share an unalterable fixation on 50's rock and roll. Doesn't everyone? (No.) (Sad face.) Cards up his sleeve: The man is shrewder and more self-aware than you would believe, at least about his choice topics, which are 50's topics--girls and rockin', and what else is there really? I advise you to listen for the dismissive left hook he throws in the bridge of Marshall Crenshaw's downhearted opener "There She Goes Again" (purposely inflammatory statement: Marshall's "There She Goes Again" is superior to The Velvet Underground song of the same name) and how it's cleverly reinforced by the restorative closer "Brand New Lover." Other notable songs include "Cynical Girl," an effervescent gem I could deconstruct for lifetimes without ever figuring out the extent to which it's a joke, and "Try" (off of Field Day), so weary and determined, so terribly poignant you hope it's a joke. (It isn't.) Marshall makes, in other words, ideal music to start off a day soon to be devoted to Marilynne Robinson, Hannah Arendt, and The Sopranos.

Consequentially yours,

JCrew