Do you remember you middle school years? For old codgers like me, middle school was called “junior high” and yes, it was also den of conflicting emotions, big changes in bodies, self-awareness, crushes, and for some, the beginning of a love affair with music that shaped one’s tastes for years to come.
My daughter is in the thick of it right now. Middle school friends, cliques, status symbols (Thank the cellphone gods I signed up for unlimited texting), fretting over hair, clothes, makeup, and gossiping about boys. But music is very important to her as well. I know she likes some of the music I enjoy, but that’s starting to change as she charts her own course and develops her own tastes that reflect her generation.
I gave her a texting assignment a few weeks ago, and it was pretty simple: Have her friends text in three of their favorite songs, bands, or singers. She sent out a mass text to 20 of her closest friends, and most couldn’t peg a particular song they liked, but they sure had opinions on favorite band or singers. There was a lot of overlap, and some editing by yours truly, but what follows is a pretty good unscientific sample of the middle school soundtrack in a San Francisco/Bay Area suburb.
“Fences,” Paramore (download)
Granted, this band has been around for a few years, but having a song featured on the Twilight soundtrack has propelled Paramore from “Yeah, they’re kind of cool” to the cusp of superstardom. While many of their songs have an unremarkable pop/rock sound (to me, anyway), “Fences” stands out in part because of the infectious Cure/”Love Cats”-inspired bass line. (more…)
