I LIKE THE

One of the worst aspects of rock ’n’ roll is that it’s often centered on this debate as to whether something is “cool” or not. Taste, like beauty, is always in the eye of the beholder—but it sure makes for humorous observations today when someone uses musical phlegm like Depeche Mode as a “cool” status symbol. Besides, if rock ’n’ roll really is (was?) the populist artform and anyone can do it, then “cool,” like pretentiousness, shouldn’t even enter the picture.