Instead he quotes his therapist, whose assessment of Denizet-Lewis' taste  probably applies to even the most pretentious listeners/music critics.

How to explain my DMB obsession? According to my former therapist, it is yet another example of my unwillingness to grow up. “You’re 30 now,” she said deliberately, as if breaking some terrible news. “Should you really be going to concerts with cute, stoned, shirtless college boys?”

Who isn't clinging to a college band or two for dear life even if your taste was terrible way back when? I like Denizet-Lewis' (and his friend's) appraisal: "I love them because I love them. Or, as a friend put it, 'You love them because you have shitty taste.'"

I'd add this to the friend's assessment: You can have good taste and like shitty bands just like you can have shitty taste and like great bands. Music lovers should be able to appreciate the good and the bad without swaddling their confession in critical theory or self-deprecating slams. (Slamming a band you used to love simply because it's no longer cool is like talking shit about the person you dated  simply because everyone you know thinks he/she is a skank. It's essentially a form of cowardice.)

E.g. My freshman year roommate used to pump our dorm full of the sounds of Incubus and 311 arranged for strings. (We're still friends despite him having played those two albums every single day for a full semester.) During a recent get-together outside of Philly, I reminded him about the string arrangements and he did his best to pretend like it didn't happen. When avoidance didn't work, he dismissed my jabs by saying he had done a lot of growing since then.

But after a few drinks, I got him to admit how he really feels: S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is a great album, and it was only slightly less great arranged for strings.

God, how awful is it that we end up bashing the albums and bands that made us music lovers? I hope I listen to emo music for the rest of my life.

Dear readers, I invite all of you to admit to loving music that everyone you know makes fun of you for enjoying. Fuck those haters.

• The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Lil Ronnie & the Grand Dukes. Birchmere. $25.
• Orquesta Ashe, Ocho de Bastos. Black Cat. $12/$15. All ages.
• Van Morrison. DAR Constitution Hall. $95-$350.
• Keith Secola & His Wild Band of Indians. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.
• O.A.R., Matt Nathanson. Merriweather Post Pavilion. $30–$38.
• The Start, Normandie, The Perfects, Skydivers. The Red & The Black. $10. +21.
• The Tennis System, Paperhaus, Loose Lips, No Dice. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
• Sunsets with a Soundtrack: The U.S. Army Concert Band. West Steps U.S. Capitol. Free.
• FFFever, Exactly, Smarts, Raccoon Fighter. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• Wolf Trap Opera Company: “La Boheme.” Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $10–$60.

Saturday

• Tracy Chapman, Gabi Moreno. 9:30 club. $40. All ages.
• Blues Condition, Rival Tribe. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• 1964: The Tribute. Birchmere. $35.
• Fiery Furnaces, Wye Oak, Screens. Black Cat. $15. All ages.
• Baby Teeth, My Dear Disco. IOTA Club & Cafe. $10. +21.
• 2009 Memorial Concert in Honor of Susanna “Susie” Kim. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. SOLD OUT.
• Ricardo Arjona. Patriot Center. $59-$99.
• Parliament Hill, Rick Irby, Taylor Carson. The Red & The Black. $8. +21.
• Five Four, Sweet Interference, Bellflur, Gaslight Society. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
• Len Bias, Citizen Meander, Lost Civilizations, The Fordists. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• B-52s, The New Collisions. Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $25–$40.
• DJ Dk. Cafe Saint Ex.

Sunday

• Mos Def. 9:30 club. $35. All ages.
• Barbershop Jam, Blues Jam w/ the Idle Americans. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• The Neville Brothers. Birchmere. $49.50.
• Ra Ra Rasputin, Anamanaguchi, Lode Runner. Black Cat Backstage. $10. All ages.
• Lights Resolve, Awesome New Republic. DC9. $8. +21.
• Incubus, The Duke Spirit. Merriweather Post Pavilion. $35–$45.
• Green Room Rockers, The Forthrights, The Chariots. The Red & The Black. $6. +21.
• Screen Vinyl Image, Space Tigers, Oblisk, The Skygreen Leopards. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• Johnny Mathis. Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $22–$45.

Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces photo by neonwar, Creative Commons Attribution License.