What he lacks in cool, he makes up for in indie rock enthusiasm

In this quirky music memoir, Sellers explains why he built his life around the indie music scene.

from the March 6, 2007 edition

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By the time Sellers's girlfriend introduced him to the band, he had already decided indie rock was largely responsible for his adult self. But, although well into his 30s, Sellers was not ready to abandon his obsession with music and turn to the rat race or to raising a family. After all, he was still looking for that ultimate validation of his musical choices, which comes when he gets to hang out with GBV and attend a bunch of shows on their 2004 farewell tour.

One doesn't have to be familiar with the output of GBV's Robert Pollard, the tragic story of Joy Division, or the albums of Pavement to enjoy the book, but an inordinate passion for music may be a requirement. Otherwise, Sellers's pilgrimage to Manchester – home of The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Factory Records – and his ramblings about finding that perfect indie-girl who could guide him to new musical discoveries might come off as too self-absorbed.

Yet being simultaneously self-absorbed, and self-effacing is what makes Sellers endearing. He doesn't just love music, he is obsessed enough to check how many times he played a particular song in his digital collection. He makes lists ranking everything from his top albums to the most skilled indie guitarists to the 12 bands he could have written more about in the book but didn't.

The enthusiasm Sellers brings to his musical memories is just enough to take your mind off the endless footnotes (a couple of entries go on for about four pages), which are meant to be fun, but are largely a distraction.

Music memoirs seem an easy task, but exposing intimate musical secrets takes guts. When Sellers talks about liking Journey, ZZ Top, and later, Duran Duran during the early 1980s, the reader can't help but cringe. But he grows out of that phase and eventually learns the gospel of indie rock, which often requires seeing the world in black and white.

Punk, yes. Pop, no. The Pixies, yes. Billy Idol, no. After all, as Nick Hornby's character mutters in the music-saturated "High Fidelity": It's what you like, not what you are like, that matters.

Sellers, a pop culture writer and blogger, is not what you'd call a hipster (a term describing today's early adopters of music or fashion). He admits as much himself when writing about being consistently late to the latest "it" band.

But when he does embrace a new band, he loves it with the consuming passion that can change not only your listening habits, but your whole life.

• Cristian Lupsa is an intern at the Monitor.

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