Katie Chow

"

To be fair, Klosterman did end his piece by saying that he was rooting for Merill Garbus’ legacy as a genius, though he warned of possible, impending “doom.” After all, maybe in a warped, tough love kind of way, this piece could be considered a preemptive favor to Garbus and her fans alike. It’s right of critics to doubt and question the “genius” label whenever these unwieldy things get hitched to a musician. But it’s Klosterman’s method of dissecting Garbus that feels snidely less-than-honest, not to mention less-than-informed.

In some ways, this could be because Chuck Klosterman represents a slightly older guard of music critics, the ones stuck firmly in a mostly male-dominated High Fidelity kind of indie-verse. Maura Johnston, music editor of the Village Voice, rightly labeled his position on Garbus as “Old Man Yells At Cloud That He Seems To Find Gender-Ambiguous” but Klosterman’s piece seems more deliberately irresponsible and misleading than that. Perhaps, “Old Man Attempts to Discredit Artist Who Challenges Gender Binary by Calling Her ‘Asexual’” would be more apt. Thing is, it’s been over a decade since High Fidelity came out. Indie rock is no longer fairly represented by the slightly greasy, slightly antisocial Rob Gordons of the world. Time to get with the times, Mr. Klosterman.

"