They're the Goddamned Gleam

Wherein reading Jack Sparks is like riding a rollercoaster without a seatbelt

The elusive Jack Sparks praises a band that I feel compelled to check out, but before he gets to them, he writes one of the best descriptions of the Minnesota music scene of the 1980s. Quote

Back in the 80's, there were a lot of deceptively violent, drug addicted, homosexuals who just loved Husker Du; there were a lot of suburban, violent, white drunks that moved downtown who just loved The Replacements; there were a lot of funky black people who loved loud guitars, in addition to driving beats, in songs about fucking, who just loved Prince. Minneapolis had identities to its music. And everybody intermingled. But the chief fact was that the music was born here. They were professional musicians, to be sure, but they were also professional Minnesotans; and even though they've gone down different paths that have produced various results, you can walk around Block E and Uptown with a headset on, listening to that stuff and still get a bit of the reverb.