![]() While the conversation was difficult and imperfect, it was a step in the right direction. It also allowed me to see him in a more humanistic way. Through this conversation, I had the opportunity to learn more about his life and experiences, and while his story did not excuse his comment, listening to him was a tool by which I was able to gain more insight. It wasn’t easy and it did not end in the two of us seeing eye to eye and living in perfect harmony, but, it was a start. But rather than remaining shocked and angry, I challenged myself to sit down with the student and have a conversation. I was shocked that someone that I saw every day on campus, could make such a hurtful and impactful statement. The comment was hurtful, and my classmates and I struggled to find the right words to say in the moment. He was referring to police brutality in America and comparing it to black on black crime. He said something along the lines of black people are focused on police killing them when they should stop killing each other. While attending Spring Arbor University, a classmate made a comment that caused the rest of our class to fall into complete silence. I can recall challenging myself recently to have a difficult conversation as a college student. Americans have become comfortable living within a frame informed entirely by assumptions instead of challenging themselves to look beneath the headlines and engage with others through conversations. Or, drive down a street and assume the driver ahead of you is anti-Black Lives Matter based upon their MAGA sticker. In the current climate of America, it is far too easy to go into a store and assume one’s political party based on a mask. Easy Listening is a more full-barreled showing than earlier 2nd Grade efforts, with its moments of celebration and ennui both more vivid and defined.Kristina Grace is a student-athlete at Spring Arbor University and is also a partnerships coordinator at Bridging the Gap. The short and drum-free “Planetarium” is equal parts gentle vocal harmonies and phaser-heavy instrumental, landing like a lost Alien Lanes track, while the closing title track lingers a little longer than most of the other tracks, blanketed in cassette hiss as it wanders through sweetly solitary moods. “Beat of the Drum” is full force, driving, and surf-informed party rock recorded in high definition, while “Poet in Residence” slows down a riff borrowed from John Cougar Mellencamp’s 1982 hit “Hurts So Good” and filters the entire song through a muted, lo-fi filter. Production approaches vary from song to song. ![]() ![]() “Strung Out on You” ties together the dazed longing and midtempo handclaps of Girlfriend-era Matthew Sweet, while “Cover of Rolling Stone” namechecks antiquated elements of different eras - family landlines, bands famous from MTV airplay and magazine covers- over anthemic chords and a one-minute-and-14-second runtime. ![]() In 2nd Grade’s universe of daydreams, the songs call up images of listless summer days at the airshow and restless nights chasing love with classic rock on the radio. The band’s romantic hooks and anxious pace are present on Easy Listening, but the guitars are louder and weightier, the attitudes a little more confident (sometimes to the point of fun brattiness on punky blasts like “Controlled Burn”), and the overall feeling the album evokes is one of summer fun through the lens of an imagined rock & roll nostalgia. Both 2020 debut Hit to Hit and 2021’s demo collection Wish You Were Here Tour Revisited were patchworks of clean, sentimental songcraft, each offering more than 20 tunes that flew by in a matter of seconds and called on the jangly bittersweetness of pop legends like Teenage Fanclub, Guided by Voices, Sloan, or Big Star. Philly power pop outfit 2nd Grade turn up the rock on their sophomore album Easy Listening, adding Stones-y swagger and high-powered riffing to the pop sweetness of their short, melodically charged songs. ![]()
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