Bruce Springsteen "Jack Of All Trades"

My two year old son is a shockingly opinionated music listener. Though he only knows about 20 words at this point, if he hears a song he likes, he will smile and bob his head (he's got rhythm, unlike his Dad). And if he doesn't like the song, he's been known to stick his fingers in his ears.

In the spirit of Bil Keane, turning over his comic to Billy, here now is my 2 year old son's partial review on the new Bruce Springsteen album "Wrecking Ball," which we listened to on Saturday morning.

"We Take Care Of Our Own"
He liked this one, smiling and nodding throughout. And when it was over, he shouted "Again!" (But he only shouted it once. When he really likes something, like The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy," he'll actually scream if you don't play it again)


"Jack Of All Trades"
We got about one minute into the first slow track on the record, before he shouted "Noooo!" several times, until I skipped the song. When I did, he smiled.


"Wrecking Ball"
The Irish beat inspired him to run off to his bedroom and get his drum so he could bang away. However, once he got in his room, he got lost in his own beat (and his toys) and lost interest in Bruce.


And thus ends my 2 year old son's first music review.

The Black Keys "Lonely Boy"

I wrote about how it is sometimes incumbent upon the station, to play a new track from a veteran artist, regardless of quality, because to ignore it would be weird.

Like, we always play a new Neil Young track, if only to let the listeners decide for themselves that maybe this one wasn't Neil's best.

Similarly, there comes a point with certain new artists, where we may need to address them, whether they are "mvy-style" or not.

Personally, I like sound of The Black Keys. But I've never heard them do a song that made me think they should be on mvy. The noisy garage rock just isn't the right fit.

But the band has had quite a run in the last year or so, showing up in places that mvy listeners are hearing them (Saturday Night Live, Letterman). People are curious.

This new song is good, but, objectively it still doesn't sound like mvy to me.

As the song gets added to stations around the country that are similar to mvy, as the band shows up on TV programs that mvy-listeners watch, as positive reviews stack up in publications our listeners read, it may become weird that we're not playing them.

Their absence is noticeable. But their presence seems out of place.

It's weird to feel so awkwardly ambivalent about what is a seriously kick-ass song.


Hear the song on Youtube.