King Woman Says the Nerves’ ‘One-Way Ticket’ Is a Goddamn Classic

The word "classic" gets thrown around so much lately. In the world of music, it's used in hushed tones and reserved for records like Pet Sounds, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or Forever Changes. We say that is bullshit. While there should be a reverence for those albums, it’s equally as important to recognize the greatness that happens around us every single day. That’s why we're proposing the canonization of new records with our new series Goddamn Classic, which goes out and nominates records that may be off the beaten path, but deserve another look from the world. We've asked writers, artists and other notables to stand up and be counted, to defend the records that they feel haven't gotten their due. Today's record comes from Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman: the Nerves' One Way Ticket.

The thing about the Nerves was they weren’t really a band for very long, like ’74 to ’78. They had one self-titled EP, and Blondie covered their classic “Hanging on the Telephone.” I feel like Paul Collins is a genius. One Way Ticket is sort of a compilation of some live stuff, their demos and the EP, and I just feel like they are a super underrated power-pop band. The songs are perfect. I don’t know a lot of people that are into them, but I listen to them pretty frequently, and I just feel like they kind of got ripped off. They weren’t making money from any of that. I don’t know that Paul Collins is still making money from that. I'm pretty sure that Green Day covered one of their songs for a musical. I feel like they didn’t get enough credit. My favorite song might be "Paper Dolls."