Liz Phair on Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500 & Luna)

Liz Phair writes an excellent review of Dean Wareham's (Luna & Galaxie 500) new memoir of his life in music, “Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance” in tomorrow's New York Times Book Review. I haven't read the book yet, but after reading this review, I will be sure to.

Luna were on Elektra when I worked there in the early to mid 90's, and they were one of my favorite bands on the roster. Their second album, Bewitched, is a wonderful album, a collection of great songs, that while obviously indebted to the Velvet Underground, stand up incredibly well with the passage of fourteen years. And their third album, Penthouse, has my favorite Luna song ever, the utterly sublime "Chinatown," which encapsulates in song what I imagine Wareham sums up in his book; the life of the downtown New York demimonde, 90's style. Live, they were pretty good, but not even approaching great - they were way too emotionally distant from their audience to connect on a truly powerful level.

Phair's review mentions the emotional detachment found in Wareham's writing. It's a detachment that I remember well from Luna's music and it's the most likely culprit for Luna's inability to break to a wider audience. Ironic self-consciousness and emotional detachment may earn a lot of points in indie circles, but they don't play well to a broad audience. In retrospect, it seems incredible that a band like Luna was ever even on a major label, but in the post-Nirvana early 90's, a lot of things seemed possible.

And I can't wait to read the parts about Terry Tolkin.