Old Enough to Forget

Last fall I stumbled upon Doug and the Slugs' debut album and was more than a little surprised at how good it was. My previously held belief that the band sucked had to be revisited, and I had to admit I'd done the Slugs wrong. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was a fully slimed convert, but I was at least on the path to putting away my salt shaker. After the barrage of "Too Bad," I don't really remember hearing anything else by the band until "Making It Work" started getting some airplay. And yeah, it was catchy and all, but I didn't consider myself a fan, so I never picked it up. Lo and behold, buried between the 1980 debut and the '83 release Music for the Hard of Thinking , the band dropped their 1981 follow-up, Wrap It! An album I honestly didn't know existed. Then again, that's not saying a lot, as the amount of shit and silliness I don't know far outstrips any semblance of knowledge and meaningless trivia I've accumulat...

Doug and the Slugs. I'm not sure where this will end up, as I was never a card-carrying member of their fan club. When this came out in 1980, I was in high school, and there's nothing stronger than the opinion of a teenager who has an opinion - and my opinion of what I heard on the radio was a very strong "meh." The band's brand of quirky new wave (which, in years to come, would be branded ska, but don't quote me on that, as musical genres aren't my strong suit) just wasn't my thing. Give me rock, or give me Gordon Lightfoot. Yeah, that's another story for another time. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. Here I am in the basement, spinning the album for my first ever listen, and I'm at their big hit, "Too Bad." I'm sitting here tapping my feet, bobbing my head and singing along to words I never realized I'd actually stored away in my long-term memory. I'm actually really enjoying this. So far, I'd have to strongly disagre...