On one level, Supernatural Strategies is a spoof of the very idea of a rock ’n’ roll book. He’s earned a cult following for a kind of satire that bristles with arch provocation. That glib invocation of “empowerment” via rock ’n’ roll is a signature of Svenonius’s style. A good group may “define a generation,” but the high-water mark today is playing a “curated” festival on an upscale New York pier, where the Velvet Underground references are always just so (ATP was rebranded “I’ll Be Your Mirror” when it came to New York last year Svenonius’s reunited band The Make-Up played). His latest book, Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ’n’ Roll Group: A How-To Guide, promises to reveal the inside scoop on forming a band, “empowering” the reader to “tour the world, and record so as to create a myth which might define a generation, inspire a movement You might even perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival if you play your cards right.” Svenonius should know: he’s done all that, and yes, he’s also harmonizing with The Byrds here, updating their sardonic note about rock bands’ constricted prospects. What’s a youngster with a USB Stratocaster to do?Īsk Ian Svenonius, a DIY rock musician who has had an influential 25 year career. By now that song has been covered countless times, “jangle-pop” is a well-worn (not to say worn-out) genre, and there’s 70-years worth of rock back-catalog to reckon with, along with scores of Retromaniacs who have repurposed every flicker of rock ’n’ roll flame. Tambourine Man,” the sodden, slightly subversive Bob Dylan folk song, into a jangly pop tune delivered with a crooked smile. After all, they had already made their fortune by transforming “Mr. In 1967, The Byrds could afford to be gently cynical about the tainted prospect of pop acclaim (“with your hair swung right / and your pants too tight / It’s gonna be alright,” they sang, mocking The Monkees, in “So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star”).
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