In My Tribe

About

10,000 Maniacs began their career in 1981 as a post-punk-adjacent band led by a 17-year-old Natalie Merchant, with Joy Division’s then-recent song “Love Will Tear Us Apart” as a fixture of their earliest show. By the time the group released their breakthrough album <i>In My Tribe</i> in 1987, nearly all traces of that aesthetic had been supplanted by an alternative folk-pop aesthetic closely related to that of their frequent tourmates R.E.M. This lush and earthy style suited the earnest intensity of Merchant’s lyrics and flattered her rich contralto voice, making her come across as a protest singer with a touch of musical-theatre flair. Prior to <i>In My Tribe</i>, the band’s music was mainly written by Merchant with guitarist John Lombardo, but his departure in 1986 resulted in her either composing songs on her own or with other members of the Maniac. Merchant instantly clicked with Robert Buck, whose jangling guitar on the album openers “What’s the Matter Here?” and “Hey Jack Kerouac” made them a natural fit on college radio alongside R.E.M. and The Smith. “Hey Jack Kerouac,” an uptempo number that’s clearly indebted to The Smiths in style and tone, is a meditation on the Beats at a time when they’d transcended mere personhood to become mythic figures representing an ideal of artistry and freedom. Merchant sings about Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg with reverence towards their work and ambivalence about their rampant egos and self-destructive tendencie, addressing them as though she’s a concerned peer asking difficult questions about what they took from others and what debts they left unpaid. .

via Apple Music

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