"Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by The Offspring

When we were 15, we got into their van, camper in tow, and headed east with my buddy's family to the Gaspé.

There was a pool at this campground, and one sunny afternoon, we saw these girls there. Of course, we didn't talk to them. We wouldn't have known what to do with them if they fell into our swim trunks. But we snuck peeks at these glistening young bodies in bikinis, exchanged curious glances from the other side of the pool, trying desperately to play it cool. I sat in a deck chair and hid my excitement with my towel.

"Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead

"It sucks," she said.

"What do you mean, it sucks?" I replied, getting slightly aggravated.

She waved her hand away. "Only people on drugs like that music."

"A Levee for the Tears of New Orleans" by B.W. Brandes

It was a few months ago, at Quai des Brumes I believe, when I first caught a local band called The In & Outs in concert. It was not a large room, with only 10 or 15 people, but this trio brought it hard. They rocked our socks off. And our pants. And our underwear. Plus their showmanship was spectacular. At various points during the evening, the guitarist played with a violin bow and a pint glass. Then he was stomping on our tables as he played, kicking off our empty glasses. The bassist and the drummer switched places seamlessly during the last song.  These guys put on a hell of a show, pure rock and roll, and I left awestruck. I promised myself I'd go see them again.

"Stars" by Hum

In the nineties, a secret US government agency adbucted a little-known rock band from Illinois and conducted a long and humiliating series of experiments on them. Then they taught them advanced physics. Then they fired them into outer space on a rocket ship. Then they broke their hearts. This story is not true.