Do you hear Springsteen? Or is that John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band?

My mother is, of course, known for her dependable music criticism. This is the woman whose reaction to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was, "This sounds like church music. Turn it off."

Sometimes, when I'm home, I like to subject her to indie rock just to get a rise out of her. For example, I once drove her to Wal-Mart (we're always driving to Wal-Mart, y'all) and had Joanna Newsom playing softly on the stereo. When we hit a lull in conversation, I gradually turned up the volume, which was only audible for seconds before my mother smacked buttons to change it, complaining about "the demonic, singing child." (Granted, I'll admit she wasn't ready for Joanna Newsom, and sometimes that observation isn't too far off.)

Moments like these keep me motivated to play music for her, even just as background noise for when we're driving somewhere. I've discovered she likes The Shins and Jamie Lidell, but Cat Power is "too depressing" and she did a cute(?) little impression of Neko Case, screeching, "JOHN the BAAAAPTIIIIST!!" Adorable.

My favorite Mom-moment happened while I was home last week. We were driving to Richmond and I had Neon Bible playing, which she mostly ignored while she talked to me. When she paused for a while, allowing me to turn up the music for a brief moment, she told me that it sounded like Eddie and the Cruisers.

Obvs. The Arcade Fire is surely not the only band influenced by titular, fictional bands of early '80s cult movies.