Black Postcards: A Memoir

Dean Wareham was the creative force behind mid-’80s dream poppers Galaxie 500, and later, the critically acclaimed Luna. Galaxie 500 is memorable for its hushed tones, aural space and a welcome sincerity that the modern rock band often drowns in volume. Wareham writes similarly. Black Postcards is a wry glance at the conquests and perils that befell Wareham on his way to a questionable cult stardom that looked much more glamorous from the “other side of the fence” than it in fact was. Wareham reflects on borrowing a drum kit from a dorm mate at Harvard (Conan O’Brien), the dissolution of Galaxie 500 (messy but necessary), and the price of infidelity (a painful morning-after serenade by a Spanish stewardess of the hair-metal ballad “More Than Words”). Of course, Wareham confesses that the repercussions of his poor decisions resonate beyond suffering through a bad song, and he questions whether he himself is fundamentally a bad person for having acted on his impulses while his wife and infant son waited for him in New York City. Essential for any music fan, Black Postcards is witty, smart and sweetly nostalgic for a time when it seemed as if almost any kid on the block could pick up a guitar and conquer the world.