Chuck Klosterman: belief

Transcript context

…Can you still be shocked today by music you hear? When I first heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or Sonic Youth or My Bloody Valentine, I was shocked. I’m never shocked today. Are you shocked? Well, no. I guess the short answer is no. But what you’re describing in some ways, though, really is this slow cancellation of the future. That music from, say, 1991, ’92, ’93 — Nirvana’s Nevermind came out the same day as Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out. There was a whole bunch of records that came out that day. Had you played them to someone from 1971, it would not have seemed even like music. I think that somebody who was into rock in 1971, who was listening to Led Zeppelin and the early Beatles solo records and all that, and you played them this music, they would be like, “Well, it seems dissident. It doesn’t seem songful. It doesn’t seem like music at all. I don’t like the way it’s recorded.” It would be really troubling. It is very unlikely that someone would have that experience from hearing music now who had really been into music at the turn of the 21st century. It would not seem that different. It’s very difficult now to create something that isn’t at least partially retro. In fact, it almost seems to be gone entirely. You grew up in North Dakota. You loved metal. You documented it for Spin and other media sources. If you were coming of age today, what would be your passion in music? What would be your thing? What would be your at least partial subculture?…

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