Telegram’s “Under the Night Time” will surprise you. An ongoing competition between the screeching guitar and the angry percussion tends to obscure the lyrics, but the song is still eager to make an impression. If Generation X could be reduced to a series of beats and sounds, the intro would just about define it. Although the words are almost impossible to decipher, the mumbling muffle of Matt Saunders’s voice is somewhat comforting, if not emotionally revealing. The listener can still ascertain the feeling of indignant nostalgia at some points, and at others the rebellious surrender and confusion of youth. The song moves through cycles and stages, often seeming to lack a chorus or verses or any central organization. The chord progressions and tone are constantly changing. Perhaps this is what makes the song captivating: its ability to defy the dull repetition that seems to plague much of modern day rock. 

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Lexy Brodt is a student at UW-Madison currently majoring in economics, potentially double majoring in journalism. She spends most of her time watching episodes of Broad City over root beer floats and reading in bed.