Soundtrack of Your Life is an occasional feature in which we mark the songs of our relative youth as played over public muzak systems.
Gen X has certainly made its move in completing its takeover of the soundtracks in restaurants and bars. Ex Novo opened last year in Downtown Albuquerque, a descendant of a hipster brew pub that started in Portland, Ore.
Most of the songs during this lunch date with a friend were classics straight out of the Heyday of the Planet of Sound -- the late '80s and early '90s. There were tracks from the Replacements, Sonic Youth, Hole, Fugazi and plenty more. The one that stood out the most was perhaps the original seed planted in 1981, from the debut album by the Replacements, the one that inspired the greats to come, like Nirvana and the Pixies. We marveled at the greatest hits of our 20s as we caught up with an old friend.
Date: February 25, 2025, 1 p.m. hour
Place: Ex Novo in Downtown Albuquerque
Song: "Johnny's Gonna Die"
Artist: The Replacements
Irony Matrix: 4.2 out of 10
Comment: Here is the video that Rhino Records made in 2021 for the 40th anniversary of the album "Sorry, Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash":
Here is Fugazi with "Long Division":
BONUS TRACK
Date: March 6, 2025, 5:20 p.m.
Place: Buffalo Bar & Grill in Payson, Ariz.
Song: "I Will Survive"
Artist: Cake
Irony Matrix: 3.8 out of 10
Comment: This one popped up during a dinner break on a road trip to Phoenix. Cake's album "Fashion Nugget" is one of our favorites of all time. With all due respect to Gloria Gaynor, who performs the quintessential version of "I Will Survive," Cake places its Gen X ironic stamp on the product of the disco era. I never tire of any of the 14 tracks on the album, from "Frank Sinatra" to a heartbreaking cover of Willie Nelson. (The matrix glitched a few songs later when the muzak system puked out "Mr. Roboto" by Styx, perhaps the nadir of the previous era.)
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