Bill Simmons, the wildly popular ESPN columnist turned Grantland founder and TV personality, has long espoused the Ewing Theory, a concept invented by his pal Dave Cirilli in the ’90s. Cirilli noticed that the NBA’s New York Knicks (and the collegiate Georgetown Hoyas before them) played better when superstar center Patrick Ewing was injured; rather than propping his teams up, Ewing was holding them back. Simmons even applied this theory to the music world in a column earlier this year, citing New Order’s rise after Ian Curtis hung himself (“the most depressing Ewing Theory ever”) and Courtney Love’s career immediately after Kurt Cobain blew his brains out (“the second-most depressing example”). Here’s a less morbid example: When frontman Daniel Blumberg left the prodigious UK ’90s revivalists Yuck this year after just one album, everyone assumed the band would soldier on as a shadow of its former self. Instead, Yuck delivered Glow & Behold, a shimmering guitar opus that surpasses their debut in every way. It was — what’s the opposite of yuck? Mmmm? Glow & Behold made ‘em say mmmm. (Plus we got that rad Hebronix LP out of the divorce, so, win-win.) –Chris
[LISTEN]