The book suggests there is a nostalgic view of 1970s kids mostly listening to Sabbath and Stooges-and raging against Nixon; whereas in fact more of them looked like, and listened to the Carpenters. It makes sense in a way, as it's nice safe pop music played by an unthreatening band. You see it at some point in every musical generation.
The Carpenters were a bit deeper than simple pop figureheads though. They had been playing many of these songs in clubs and bars over the years, so they weren't just some manufactured hit. They sounded light and fluffy, but there was underlying melancholy. Just to emphasise how they really weren't one-dimensional at all, the album ends with a crazy fusion jam with some mad jazz flute that would make Ron Burgundy swoon.
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