This debut from Toronto-based music journalist Joshua Kloke acts as part memoir, part examination of the cultural impact the Tragically Hip had on young, (mostly) male Canadians, and (most importantly) part insider’s look at what it means to be an obsessed music fan. At times, both the memoir angle and the cultural impact of the Hip angle fall somewhat short, though overall they provide for interesting insights into both the author’s perspective and the place the Hip have carved out for themselves on the Canadian music landscape.
The strength, for me, lies in Kloke’s earnest, at times awkward, barring of his fan-boy soul. While I’ve read plenty of music biographies, oral histories, memoirs, and “serious music criticism” over the years, this is the first time a book has really cut so close to the bone in explaining and analyzing what it means (and takes) to be a true die-hard fan. I cringed, at times, at how close to home Kloke gets here. Obsessive listening, crazy road trips, and the cult of the “rock star” are all dealt with, and if I were to replace the Hip with the Drive-By Truckers or Propagandhi, this book could have been written about me.
Clocking in at just under 150 pages, and with a foreword by Alan Cross (one of Canada’s pre-eminent music nerds and a former CKUW volunteer), Escape Is At Hand is an easy to digest piece of rock n roll literature. Definitely recommended for die-hard music fans of all stripes, particularly those who know every bit of stage banter and note on extended jams on Live Between Us, yet enjoyable for the casual reader as well. (Eternal Cavalier, eternalcavalierpress.com) Sheldon Birnie