“So son,” your Dad says, “I was sent this new album at the station last week. The press release calls this ‘alternative rock.’ They say it’s the next big thing with kids. I wanted to play it for you and see what you think. I can’t make heads or tails of it myself. Seems like starting in the late-70s nobody wanted to make a song with any meaning in it at all. I was ready for songs being angry when I got old, but not nothing. Seems like the songs get less meaningful every time I hear a new one. When I was a kid, rock and roll was shocking. It was in your face and it challenged you. This is just …”

You strain to listen to the odd music over your Dad’s rambling. If this is the future, if this is alternative rock, then you finally feel like you understand the other kids your age. This music makes sense to you. It’s fun and it’s funny. The melodies are little jokes of their own. The narrator is unreliable and suspect. You look forward to turning on the radio and hearing a lot of bands that sound like They Might Be Giants.