If their album had come out at any other time in my life, I can't imagine that I'd have been particularly into For Squirrels. If something could sound "Very 1995," For Squirrels' Example did*. Sure there were sonic similarities to earlier R.E.M., and they had their louder moments that hearkened to the sound and vision they paid homage to in their modest radio hit "The Mighty KC," an elegy to Kurt Cobain, but their Floridian jangle somehow seems very specifically of that year.
Perhaps some of this temporal specificity owes to the tragic car accident while returning from the CMJ Music Marathon in 1995 that resulted in the death of lead singer Jack Vigliatura, bassist Bill White, and their tour manager Tim Bender. The remaining members of the band continued on as Subrosa for a few years before going their separate ways, but it never seemed like they put everything back together, thus limiting their existence for all intents and purposes to that very year.
Hearing this tune again almost 17 years after I was initially into it (goddammit did typing that make me feel old as shit) makes me feel a bit nostalgic for afternoons hanging out in Ryan's basement or playing basketball at the group home while drinking insane amounts of Wild Cherry Pepsi. The realization that the sound doesn't hold up especially well is secondary to the trip back to a more innocent time of pining over girls with whom nothing ever happened, thinking that On the Road was life-changing shit, and having zero financial responsibility for anything other than figuring out how you were going to pay for books, CDs, and awful junk food.
If you want to see a concert video of this, go here.
1 comment:
I listened to Example a few months ago after sorting through the old cd storage bins -- doesn't hold up over time as a great album but it was fun to hear again. And if I still made mixtapes Orangeworker would be on some of them. -Ryan
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