A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene: 1989–1999

Maxwell (Hell), a former member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, paints a vibrant portrait of Chapel Hill, N.C.’s flourishing indie rock community in the 1990s. Drawing on interviews with record label personnel and musicians, he sketches a scene anchored by the Cat’s Cradle, a small music venue where bands often premiered and which pulled into its orbit groups including Superchunk, Ben Folds Five, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Flat Duo Jets. Most garnered followings by getting their songs played on college radio in the 1980s and were picked up by local labels who helped to expand their regional reputations. Though the 1996 deregulation of radio markets—and subsequent homogenization of many station playlists—threw a wrench in the works, such bands as Superchunk and Ben Folds Five went on to develop national followings. While Maxwell’s rigidly chronological accounting sometimes makes for tough sledding—each chapter covers a single year, methodically hashing out 12 months’ worth of band tours and album releases—he vividly captures the heady spirit of a community sustained by “mutual support, affordability, collective identity, permeable social boundaries, and friendly competition.” In the process, Maxwell offers measured hope that the values of “community, regionalism, and valuing artistic expression over profit” might “recombine and engender another artistic hothouse.” The result is a spirited rendering of a brief but shining moment in indie music history. (Apr.)