I just got out of the shower where I heard Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep talking to Craig Finn and Tad Kubler about their awesome new album, Stay Positive. Group Finds Rewards, Redemption:
“I think that when you’re 36, like I am, you look back at people who are 19 and 20,” Finn says. “You see this great age of having a car, maybe a little money, but still you’re not as smart as you think you are. And that’s where a lot of the roots of the behavior that my songs talk about come from.”
I love that a band that’s my age can reach the audience they’re writing about. Obviously, it’s because they don’t write down to them. They’re celebrating that amazing time in your life when you’re just discovering independence but you’re sheltered enough to not quite have to deal with too much responsibility.
I wonder how they’ll go over with the NPR crowd. If I’m any type of barometer, ha ha, I’m guessing they’ll do all right.
I knew Finn’s lyrics contained a lot of storytelling about characters in the music scene in the great state of Minnesoooota.
But I never googled bio stuff on him until a few days ago.
I assumed he was a reckless character from all the seedy scenarios and drug references. A lot of the promo shots of the band show them drinking. I even thought he might be doing a lot of coke when I saw how thin he was on Letterman. Turns out he’s married and a lot of the stuff is literary. I don’t know how I feel about that.
One one hand you kind of want your rock stars to be these indestructible Keith Richards types. But it’s also cool to know the frontman from my favorite existing band is the kind of guy I wouldn’t mind moving in next door.