Japanese Metal and The American Music Sponge
Then, in high school, I was a Loser. Yes, with a capital ell. I tried to learn the “cool” music, but alas, I just can’t get on board with 311, Sugar Ray or Britney Spears. What can I say? It was dry time for pop music from 1995-1999. Thank god for my sixth grade exposure to Nirvana or the Nineties would have been a complete wash.
In college, I ventured out with kids that were way cooler than me when it came to music. Pretty soon I was actually buying cds and illegally downloading music. Yeah, I was a rebel. Everyone loves the Smiths and Eels. I was rediscovering music that I had missed in the eighties, like the Cure. Yeah, I was cool.
By 2004, I started actually forming my own opinions about music, and despite the criticism that I took from my actual music snob friends, I found new bands to love, like Carbon Leaf and Voxtrot.