Maybe I've been behind the times for too long... I just don't understand it. How can kids these days (and when I say kids, I mean your typical college kids, 18-21ish, or even younger) claim they absolutely loved bands from the mid-80's to-late 90's with such a seemingly pious sense of nostalgia. Their words feign feelings of attachment as if they were anything more than a fetus when those albums came out or when those bands stepped foot in their town on their summer tour across the country.

I'm not trying to be a snob about it. I just don't get it. For example, Minor Threat started in the early 80's. Clearly, they were one of the most influential hardcore bands, spearheading the straightedge movement. I loved the discography, once I was finally exposed to it. But to claim any sense of nostalgia is ridiculous - I was 7! I probably didn't even know what punk rock was at that point. These days kids can download and listen to a band's entire career-long discography in less than a week. You can't develop attachment in a week...

Something about this generation bothers me. It's not the people, per se, it's the process. These days, music is so readily accessible. That, by no means, is a bad thing! But we've lost something as a consequence. The beauty and genius of making a new album, of musical growth has been trivialized. What happened to the anticipation in waiting for the next single or the next 7" to come out? Where's the exultation from opening a cd case (I could even go back to vinyl...) and finding a kickass cover, and liner notes worth remembering? Nowadays, you sift through a list of a couple hundred mp3's you don't have, download away, jpg files intact for the artwork, and you're done. Forget about memories. Move on to the next band.

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