Nostalgia’s a funny thing. At times, people actively seek it, hoping to return if only briefly to yesteryear and swaddle themselves in the sense memories of their old days. At times they actively avoid it, or simply act oblivious to it, and yet wander into its embrace all the same. The nostalgic tug toward past favorites is so strong that sometimes, we give in to it without realizing our own nostalgia.
That’s the experience of listening to The Modern Age, a decidedly retro album from Britpop band Sleeper, their first after 22 years of radio silence following their 1998 split. It’s the late 2010s. Everything old is new again. Bands ranging from Jump, Little Children to Art Brut have all dropped fresh music after years-long breaks. So Sleeper’s just getting in on everyone else’s action, really, literally getting the band back together to churn out new tracks and bring their sound from the ‘90s to 2019. Frankly, their reunion is welcome. What The Modern Age lacks in durability and ingenuity it makes up for with a fistful of ear worms that burrow straight into the audience’s brain center. The record’s incredibly listenable.
Grant that “listenable,” as “drinkable” to craft beer, is about as harmless a way to praise a record for meeting baseline expectations for what a record should be, because what’s an album if it isn’t worth listening to? But The Modern Age both reminds of an era in music history and also of what made Sleeper so successful and so popular to begin with, thanks chiefly to The It Girl: Infectious, groove-worthy tunes to bop along with, buttressed by sharp lyrics that cut through the music’s breezy quality. At its very best, The Modern Age feels light and airy at first blush but cutting and even bitter the further one dives into its songs’ various meanings.
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