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September 15, 2006 > Lifestyles > Swigger’s Soundtrack

Swigger’s Soundtrack

By Marshall Robinson | Thresher Editorial Staff

My life has a soundtrack. Some of the music I can control — like the stuff in my room and my car. But other people pick the vast majority of the cacophony that surrounds me. Those people have the power to define an ambiance, for me and others around me. While driving, at the doctor or drinking at Willy’s Pub, the music has a profound effect on all who hear it.

Most of the time, music accents my atmosphere very nicely. Fast beats and sensual lyrics at trendy clothing shops make me want overpriced skintight black jeans. The dentist office’s soothing jazz drowns out the drills in the next room.

But Pub gives off this totally different vibe. As I enter through the thick glass doors, the basement of the Student Center becomes a portal back into a simpler time — a time when schoolwork didn’t get in the way of parties.

Yes, Pub is just like a high school party, except people are looking over their shoulders for the Campos instead of the host’s parents. If people wanted to listen to Weezer’s obscenely overplayed Blue Album every week, they would have purchased or downloaded it sometime in the 12 years it has been out.

Atmosphere is essential to making a scene. If the music does not complement the party, people can feel awkward — there’s a good reason biker bars do not play soft rock. And Pub’s current musical selection just does not give off a good vibe, because it lacks the freshness and tongue-in-cheek underground qualities that Rice undergrads usually look for.

Valhalla’s music, on the other hand, matches its music to its customers. The bartenders all keep diligent watch over their background tunes. The music stays as chill as the patrons and rarely repeats itself from night to night. Dead Vikings everywhere must be proud of the rhythms in the heart of Keck Hall.

Granted, no one goes to Pub to listen to the music, but imagine how great the Student Center’s basement could be with a fresher, less repetitive backbeat. To Pub’s credit, some of my favorite nights there have included everyone singing along to the choruses of Bon Jovi songs at the top of their lungs — some of the standards at Willy’s have stood the test of time. But no one will catch me jamming to the tired Nelly and Kelly Clarkson hits that pollute the rest of the playlist.

Now I admit to a left-dial agenda. I listen to the National Public Radio that populates the sub-93-FM liberal sideband. But I don’t need to hear indie underground every Thursday night. I just want a little variety — or any variety at all, really.

As much as I dislike most late-1990s mainstream music, it is a necessary nostalgia that can spark conversations or drinking games — if you don’t believe me, play AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” sometime when I’m around. And pub music masters have the pulpit to indoctrinate students to whatever sonic disturbances they please. Recent top-40 party anthems paired with classics from all decades can keep patrons listening contently while they are trying to ignore freshmen’s feeble attempts at pick-up lines. And as long as the CD selection includes a list of more than 10 discs, I can even put up with Vanilla Ice.

A jukebox or a live DJ would be really awesome, but those kind of demands really only work if you are paying so much for your drinks that you could have bought a new CD instead. As long as the beer is cheap and students keep flocking there, I will be there enjoying myself. But good music to complement the good company is something I would like to toast more often.

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