“Mabel” - Goldfinger
(Words/music: John Feldmann, Charlie Paulson, Simon Williams, available on Goldfinger, Universal 1996)

“Sense of humor” is a funny term.  On one hand, it suggests that the person being described – usually a potential friend or date – can recognize and appreciate a joke rather than being offended.  We tend to load the term with far more than just that – having a “sense of humor” often means “finding the same things – and most importantly, me – funny.”  Guessing someone’s sense of humor becomes a sort of game, and so many of us put a disproportionate amount of stock into something that, at best, we can guess at.  Then again, some people claim that sense of humor is something that you can make a quick judgment about – you either have one or you don’t. 

Either way, there was a time in my musical development where “sense of humor” provided a major bonus.  I liked “serious” bands, but bands that were kind of goofy or made references to funny things strangely gained a little more of my attention.  Appropriately, the following phase went in the exact opposite direction – I seemed drawn to very serious bands making “serious art,” certainly spurred on by the glut of “silly” bands I listened to in my teenage years.  I’ve since settled somewhere in the middle – I like my music to have fun when it wants to be fun and dig deeper when it deserves to.  But while humor scored extra points in my book, Goldfinger found a place in my discman.  I have vivid memories of my friend Scott picking me up and blasting this album.  I listened to a lot of this late ’90s skate punk during that time and even though I’ve never skateboarded, this music always struck me as fun, so when Goldfinger injected some silliness into their music.  “Mabel” stands out in particular – it’s a tale of heartbreak and unrequited love filled with goofy rhymes, some absurd imagery, and even a dick joke.  When it’s explained like that, it sounds entirely unappealing, but listening to Goldfinger sing the song (especially as a teenager), they had an odd sort of magnetic charm based on the amount of fun they seemed to have playing music.  Since music was one of my major recreational activities, it makes sense that a band clearly having fun (even on a “sad” song) would be something I’d like.  Goldfinger songs still appear on my iPod from time to time, and they are a welcome reminder of times when a Saturday afternoon drive to Taco Bell was the most important event in my world.