Modern Qualifier 54! – Bent Knee, Oceanic, Bettie Serveert, Ava Rook

My Bettie Serveert nomination is a bit tongue in cheek. It is a common pattern for me to start liking critical darling artists only after they’re considered sell-outs, become old news, or otherwise start making more mainstream / accessible music. I don’t do it on purpose, but that’s often how it pans out.
Dutch indie band Bettie Serveert had their moment in the international sun when their debut album _Palomine_ made some college radio waves in 1992. I thought it was pants and didn’t pay them any further attention. 11 years later, I accidentally heard this song from their fifth album _Log 22_ and tought it was really really neat. Needless to say, Pitchfork rated the album a 2.2, particularly singling out this track (“an overdriven two-minute sketch that barely sticks around long enough to register a melody that features a vague slipstream of lyrical non-sequiturs”).
So anyway. By age and inclination I am firmly rooted in the ANCIENT leg of this poll. It therefore seems only fitting that my one and only MODERN nomination comes from a band scathingly judged to be long past their prime (“an album that might be considered ‘transitional,’ if the band are dead-set on becoming a band that completely suck”). 🙂