I am not equipped to analyze last week’s events, but I did almost call the MAGA coup attempt “fucking shenanigans” instead of “events.” You can’t hear the angry Chicago accent that comes out when I say “shenanigans,” which might convey the mix of frustrated annoyance, disbelief, fear, and rage I feel—and under those circumstances, I’d rather not use a word that might make you think of fun times. At any rate, here at the Listener the goal is for us Reader staff to tell you about the music we’ve been listening to lately, and since Wednesday night it hasn’t been easy to shut off the news and retreat into my record collection—something I usually recommend as a way to begin the important process of self-care.
Rindy founded Quarterflash in 1980 with her husband, Marv (who wrote “Harden My Heart”), and the two of them still perform as a duo. Their most recent album, A Better World, came out in July 2020. Sometimes diving into the fondly familiar for a few minutes works as a balm for a seemingly never-ending barrage of fucking shenanigans. v
