Weekly Reader: More Than Words by Christina Benjamin; '90's Indie Grunge Scene Steals The Show From The Budding Romance
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Ah yes, I remember the '90's music well.
I was in Middle School when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out and in high school when Kurt Cobain died. I remember when the local St. Louis radio station 105.7 The Point played nothing but Alternative and Grunge music, except during lunch when they played Retro. I remember the groups and singers like Alice in Chains, Radiohead, Sound Garden, Jane's Addiction, Garbage, Tracey Bonham, Leah Andreoni, Candlebox, Butthole Surfers, Nerf Herder, Eve 6, and of course the granddaddies, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. I remember the multigroup concerts like Lollapalooza, PointFest, Lilith Fair, Horde Fest, and many others. I envied those who went to PointFest. (Now with my overdeveloped crowd anxiety, I'm glad I never went.) High schoolers flocked to Vintage Vinyl, the St. Louis record store to listen to the music from their favorite bands.
The music was stripped down and sometimes acoustic. The lyrics expressed frustration,anger, depression, and emotions right out in the open that moved beyond romance and break ups. There was honesty in the music and those who promoted it. They expressed their love of the music by performing in clubs and with indie labels. Their fans spread that love through word of mouth and ezines, without corporate influence. (And this was before Social Media did the work for them, kids.)
Admittedly, some groups did branch out and played on MTV and major record labels. How else could a bookworm geeky teenage girl who lived in Northern California and the Midwest at the time have heard of them? I wasn't exactly old enough to go to the clubs or savvy enough to hear them before they were well known. I admit that I found the term "sell out" to be frustrating for that reason. ("When does a group sell out," I always wondered, "When I like them? You're allowed to like them, but I'm not?")
However, now that I have gotten older and am actively involved in the indie book publishing scene, I understand that feeling that the indie music fans had at the time (and many still have). You want to be there right at the moment when it's fresh, exciting, and isn't bound by rules, restrictions, and packaging. You want to discover someone new and promote the heck out of them, because you love the work and the scene.
You want nothing, but the best for the artists you love, the fame and money. But at the same time you hope that they don't change too much, that they don't forget the people that they were, and remain honest. You miss the original scene now that others have discovered it. In trying to be more welcoming, the indie scene lost what made it great in the first place: the honesty, the rawness, and exclusivity.
As an artist, you want fame to be recognized, but not too much fame that it's overwhelming. You want to make enough money to live comfortably and to live off of your chosen profession, so you don't have to take another job. But you don't want to be too fabulously wealthy so that you can't control yourself or the parasites who hang about you because of your money. You want to appeal to a wider audience so your chosen art can reach others, but still want to maintain artistic integrity so you can continue to reach your original fanbase.
It is the indie Grunge scene of the early '90's that is the backdrop of More Than Words, Christina Benjamin's contemporary romance about a pair of college students who fall in love while exploring the Seattle Grunge scene. While the lead protagonists are compelling, it is the setting and time period that really make this book. It is just as much a love letter to the musical genre that many grew up with as it is a love story between two people.
It is the typical romance between opposites. Kristin is the daughter of lawyers who think that she will combine her love of music and attorney influenced background to study at the University of Washington to become an entertainment lawyer. What they don't know is that their daughter is spending her time away from classes and exploring the clubs to listen to Grunge music. To her credit, she isn't just going to hang out, listen to some great tunes, and become a groupie.
Kristin has a real ear for music and knows how to promote, manage, and book local bands. Her greatest dream is to work for a major indie record label as a producer. Unfortunately, her dreams took a backslide when her boyfriend, Nuno, lead singer of the group Deafgraffiti, left Kristin's management and romantic attachment behind when he signed with a major label. He became famous and forgot all the people who helped him along the way, like ex-bandmates and Kristin.
Phinn is a student from rural Oregon, experiencing city life and its club scene for the first time. He is also a music fan and an aspiring musician himself. When Kristin is practically dragged to a frat party by her roommate, she encounters Phinn. The two bond over a mutual love of the band, Dominion and then agree to meet again at the Back Booth to hear Dominion play.
Kristin and Phinn are a couple that are developed just as much by their love of music as their interest in each other. They have different approaches to the art form that reflect their talents and differing personalities. Kristin is more hard core and introverted. She wants to be behind the scenes but at the same time reveal her dedication to her craft. She knows what's good and which bands deserve to have more recognition.
Phinn is more outgoing and open minded. He is a more welcoming personality that draws people in, even the more withdrawn Kristin. He is the perfect person to be in the center either playing or greeting people at a club. While he has a talent for playing music, his warmth and openness also could be displayed as a club owner or agent. Phinn is foreground while Kristin is background, but together they reveal their love of music.
This book also shows that you don't have to be a performer yourself to express a love for a certain art. You can spot the perfect bands, manage a club, host featured acts, and that still makes you a part of that world than if you picked up a guitar and sang into a microphone.
Of course, Kristin is revealed in her network of musicians, clubs, and record labels. She recognizes talent when she sees it, like when she sees Candlebox and is ready to promote them.
While Phinn plays the guitar, he is also able to use his welcoming nature to make an abandoned frat house, which he and his friends live in, into a club that of course is perfect for Candlebox to perform.
Take away the 1990's time period and the grunge music and the Candlebox subplot could almost be one of those old movie musicals, where the principal characters put on a show and fall in love while planning to make it big on Broadway or Hollywood.
All joking aside, the subplot is instrumental in revealing Kristin and Phinn's mutual love for music.Through that love, they begin to understand and develop a love for each other. One of the more telling conversations reveals that. Kristin tells Phinn how much she loves music and wants to have a career in it and nothing will stop her. What about love? Phinn asks. Would you give music up for love? Kristin's answer could be summarized as no, she loves music too much and if any guy really loved her, then he would understand. Luckily, Phinn is that guy.
The real star of this book is the indie club scene and it is extremely well written. From the club goers dressed in black clothing and boots, to the loud pulsing music, to the smell of pot and alcohol in the air, there is a sense of togetherness and cosmic energy as the bands and club goers are there to play and hear the music in its raw and real form.
Real bands, like the aforementioned Candlebox exist alongside fictional ones, like Deafgrafitti to give More Than Words a real sense of authenticity. These are characters who try to live a life free of establishment and corporate rules (such as going to Cafe Allegra rather than the already growing Starbucks). But there is also the growing anxiety that this is only a moment and things will pass. Kristin sees the growing attendance at the clubs including the trendy college kids and worries. She fears that someday her world will be sanitized and packaged into something clean and safe. In their drive to welcome larger crowds, execs, record labels, and owners will change it with rules, standards, image over substance and she won't recognize it. The only thing that Kristin and Phinn can do is enjoy the indie music world while it lasts and make sure that in the future, they can use their careers to create something authentic that lasts beyond the moment and the changes. Their influence in the indie music genre will help the music keep to its roots.
The title, More Than Words, comes from a line in which Kristin reveals that she loves music "more than words." Of course the fact that it is also the name of the 1990 acoustic love song by Extreme, which extols using more creative means to express love rather than just using the words "I love you," perhaps gives it a double meaning. (Also the fact that the band members of Extreme themselves said that the song was "a blessing and a curse." It was so different from their usual style, that they alienated their old fans and offended new fans who were drawn to that specific song when they refused to play it. This echoes into the book's theme about the struggle between being authentic and changing oneself to attract a larger audience.)
This is more than a book about love between two people. This is about a love of music and other art forms. It is about using one's talents to give artists and other talented people a gift. The gifts represent the gratitude for all of the time spent being enraptured by that art. It is about finding the right career path that allows you to engage in and express that love in ways that are important to you and the artists. It is how one's first love isn't always necessarily a person. Sometimes it's an art form whether it's books, photography, painting, sculpture, comics, films, or music.
And if you find someone along the way who also shares that love and wants to develop that artform with you and you fall in love with each other as well, then that's all the better.
