THE SERFS did a bang-up job of calling out the 2020 vibe before 2020 even got under way exporting this out of Cincinnati in the first part of January. Post-punk, cold wave, dark wave, minimal wave or whatever you want to call it, they nailed something. Sitting here now on a cold December morning I can only wonder why or how I missed it until today. It’s a killer.

This is the collapse of the narrative set to music. You can hear the gears slipping off the timing belt and grinding into each other. It does have a lot more open space and ambience; it’s not as completely claustrophobic as a lot of cold wave releases. It’s not exactly what you would call atmospheric though in the traditional sense. It’s open space but it’s not free space. It’s foreboding and dangerous. It’s not free-floating. It’s not light.

Perfect.

It’s the perfect soundtrack for December 2, 2020. I’ve got coffee. I’ve got a playlist. I put together a project yesterday for work to get prepped for 2021 sales cycles and shows that may or may not happen. COVID-19 will still dictate the revolution of the planet for some time to come no matter how well this reported vaccine works out. If there is one lesson from this year it’s that while we adapt to fight these external things, they all adapt to contend with us as well. There are too many variables to make any real prediction. Just set things up as we presume they might be and move ahead but stay flexible and agile. We aren’t at the wheel. That’s the lesson of 2020, even for those of us who already knew that to be the truth. It is the unwavering and inflexible and unbendable that suffer the most when things go pear-shaped.

I’ve got some cold-weather/foul-weather projects lined up as well, beginning with another purge of “things.” I never got caught in the boredom buying shop therapy cycle of the pandemic days so that was helpful. The shelves (and there are too many shelves) are bending with the weight of records and CDs I don’t listen to and books I will not read again. The closets and drawers are filled with clothes I don’t need and won’t wear. There is a convenience in having too much, on the one hand. Then there is the sheer weight and closed quarters of owning it. It creates its own gravity and gives me a claustrophobic feeling. Time to clean house and clear out. It will make me more mobile for the next move, whenever that may happen. We will see how that shakes out.

For now, ready to move. Ready for December 2, 2020.