Perfect From Now On

Since discovering (as well as admiring) the writing style of Chuck Klosterman, I’ve been trying to find more writers like him. One day, while perusing the aisles of The Strand Bookstore, I came across the book Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life by John Sellers. The title, while piquing my interest, did give me a bit of chuckle in a nerdy sort of way. How Indie Rock Saved My Life? It sounds a bit contrived. But in reading the inside sleeve, I got the impression that Sellers and I share a passion for indie music.

I read the entire book over my recent vacation to Mexico. I could hardly put it down as I enjoyed each page of Sellers mixing a witty criticism for his favorite bands with his overwhelming desire to meet them and attend their shows. He describes his journey from listening to pop music to discovering such indie bands of eighties and ninties as Joy Division, The Smiths, The Replacements, and Pavement.

A good portion of the book is devoted to the discovery and love of his favorite band, Guided By Voices. I find it the story nothing short of fateful as he is introduced to them toward the end of band’s career by his then girlfriend. He then proceeds to validate his obsession by traveling to the band’s hometown of Dayton, OH to meet and party with the band and their charismatic leader, Robert Pollard. His admiration of Pollard is that probably that which I would equate to mine for such musicians as Wayne Coyne, Jeff Tweedy, and Thom Yorke. I can only imagine if I were in Sellers’s situation where he meets his unapproachable indie rock idol and can hardly speak to him. I meet some of my favorite musicians all the time, but I have yet come across one that I put on that pedestal like Ben Gibbard or Colin Meloy and have no idea just how I might react in such a situation.

I felt like I could identify with a lot of what Sellers writes in his book though I cannot say that I am terribly familiar with many of the bands that he admires. The appendices of the book include several lists (what is the deal with us indie nerds and lists?) and clever ideas such as a formula for calculating music preference. While I haven’t used the formula to quantify just how much I love my favorite bands, I find the idea amusing. My only criticism of the book is the (at times) overwhelmingly long footnotes. The quality of them is not bad, they are just too long.
I’d recommend this book for anyone who, well, enjoys reading this blog and has a passion for music. It is just a tad over 200-pages in its hardback form and a great read.