never as tired as when i'm waking up
Ian writes album reviews...go here for the first joint I gave a better grade than C+ to. It's one of my top-ten thus far in this particularly dire year of 2006, and since I get asked about this kind of stuff, if you want to use a Pitchfork grade equivalency, on Metacritic, our B+'s turn into "83." And go here if you like to read about Kool Keith side projects.
I'll be honest: ever since I got the extended cable package from Charter that includes the MTV Jams channel, I have no motivation whatsoever to watch MTV proper. This might not be a good thing from a critical standpoint- I write about music and popular culture, and yet, I have little idea of what is actually popular. People talk about Pitchfork and Stylus and Stereogum and whatnot occupying the new frontier of music writing, and in a way, they do. But while there are people wondering whether it's still cool to like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah anymore even though they don't have a fucking record deal, I bet you were unaware that Godsmack had the #1 album in the country a few weeks ago. Godsmack. First off, it's still difficult to believe the fact that a group so indebted to Alice In Chains had the nerve to actually call themselves Godsmack and not be an actual cover band. I mean, if you're a label that had to get a Young Jeezy clone as quickly as possible, you wouldn't call him Yung Joc would you?
But the larger point is that a band like Godsmack can prove just how out of touch I really am. And watching MTV today in between channel flips just sealed the deal. In particular, Angels & Airwaves did. Outside of the Metacritic "upcoming releases" calendar, I've never heard of this band. But then I see their video on MTV, and it turns out that it's Tom DeLonge's side project. Which leads me to ask: is there anything funnier than Blink-182's (I refuse to make that a lower-case name) ongoing quest for artistic credibility?
Before I get to all of that, I just gotta say how funny it is when a band tries to shift gears and realize they clearly regret their name. As much as I love the Drive-By Truckers, I have to imagine that they'd probably think twice about calling themselves that if they had a second chance. Same goes for "Metallica," or any band with the word "kids" or "ska-" in there.
But as for Blink-182, I think it speaks volumes about the climate of our culture that they're allowed to spawn more pointless spinoffs than DipSet in the name of "artistic seriousness." Did you actually hear their self-titled album? Just look at some of these reviews and keep in mind people probably got paid to write them! Now, one thing I appreciate about Blink-182 is the fact that they're largely responsible for Jimmy Eat World's fame. If one of the dudes didn't hire JEW to play his wedding and constantly pimp them in the press, odds are I wouldn't have heard of "Bleed American," which is fucking awesome. But while all sorts of people were amazed at Blink's progression, no one bothered to mention that the album ripped off every studio trick from "Clarity," which is also awesome. "Blink-182" was not, and anyone who talked about the band's "maturity" and "artistic growth" is clearly reviewing straight from their press sheet. You remember "I Miss You," right? I realize it's a little more nuanced than, say, "Dammit" or "Rock Show," but discovering a flanger pedal and tuning your guitar down doesn't mean you've created "Pet Sounds" all of a sudden.
It's quite hard to figure out which guy annoys me more, but I have to say Travis Barker's got quite the headstart. First off, fuck him for thinking he's Neil Peart. Secondly, fuck him for being the worst wannabe rock star this side of Dave Navarro. Thirdly, fuck all the T.I. dickriders who fail to mention how his drumwork completely sucks on "You Know Who" (yes, that's Travis Barker on a T.I. album). And finally, fuck him for giving his kid a fucking mohawk. Really, did he ask him about this before they went to the barber shop? What kind of shaky-ass parenting is that?
But mostly, fuck him for the music. I'm thinking of Boxcar Racer here. Remember the last song on Built To Spill's "There's Nothing Wrong With Love" that goes "I feel so lost inside/where do I hide?" Who would've thought that would be the most influential track from the entirety of the '90s? Boxcar Racer owes their entire career to twenty seconds of music. And then there was the Transplants, which inspired Rancid to be a freakin' gangsta rap act even though they're the Black Crowes of punk music. Except they never wrote a song as awesome as "Remedy."
Anyways, now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get back to Angels & Airwaves. I'll just lay it out for ya: Tom DeLonge, in addition to having a worse haircut than George from "Grey's Anatomy," now thinks he's in U2. I'm not making this up: Blink-182 spinoff that sounds like U2, and there are jobs at stake and millions of dollars invested so people can hear the results. Why even bother trying at this point? I used to think the "Lean With It, Rock With It" video represented our cultural nadir. And by the way, it's not like I'm an authority on this, but do black folks watch that and think to themselves, "this is setting us back 50 years"? Well, for white folks, it's Angels & Airwaves.
Or better yet, read this and try to resist throwing yourself off the highest building you can find. Maybe one day it will intersect with Pimp C Boulevard or something.
I'll be honest: ever since I got the extended cable package from Charter that includes the MTV Jams channel, I have no motivation whatsoever to watch MTV proper. This might not be a good thing from a critical standpoint- I write about music and popular culture, and yet, I have little idea of what is actually popular. People talk about Pitchfork and Stylus and Stereogum and whatnot occupying the new frontier of music writing, and in a way, they do. But while there are people wondering whether it's still cool to like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah anymore even though they don't have a fucking record deal, I bet you were unaware that Godsmack had the #1 album in the country a few weeks ago. Godsmack. First off, it's still difficult to believe the fact that a group so indebted to Alice In Chains had the nerve to actually call themselves Godsmack and not be an actual cover band. I mean, if you're a label that had to get a Young Jeezy clone as quickly as possible, you wouldn't call him Yung Joc would you?
But the larger point is that a band like Godsmack can prove just how out of touch I really am. And watching MTV today in between channel flips just sealed the deal. In particular, Angels & Airwaves did. Outside of the Metacritic "upcoming releases" calendar, I've never heard of this band. But then I see their video on MTV, and it turns out that it's Tom DeLonge's side project. Which leads me to ask: is there anything funnier than Blink-182's (I refuse to make that a lower-case name) ongoing quest for artistic credibility?
Before I get to all of that, I just gotta say how funny it is when a band tries to shift gears and realize they clearly regret their name. As much as I love the Drive-By Truckers, I have to imagine that they'd probably think twice about calling themselves that if they had a second chance. Same goes for "Metallica," or any band with the word "kids" or "ska-" in there.
But as for Blink-182, I think it speaks volumes about the climate of our culture that they're allowed to spawn more pointless spinoffs than DipSet in the name of "artistic seriousness." Did you actually hear their self-titled album? Just look at some of these reviews and keep in mind people probably got paid to write them! Now, one thing I appreciate about Blink-182 is the fact that they're largely responsible for Jimmy Eat World's fame. If one of the dudes didn't hire JEW to play his wedding and constantly pimp them in the press, odds are I wouldn't have heard of "Bleed American," which is fucking awesome. But while all sorts of people were amazed at Blink's progression, no one bothered to mention that the album ripped off every studio trick from "Clarity," which is also awesome. "Blink-182" was not, and anyone who talked about the band's "maturity" and "artistic growth" is clearly reviewing straight from their press sheet. You remember "I Miss You," right? I realize it's a little more nuanced than, say, "Dammit" or "Rock Show," but discovering a flanger pedal and tuning your guitar down doesn't mean you've created "Pet Sounds" all of a sudden.
It's quite hard to figure out which guy annoys me more, but I have to say Travis Barker's got quite the headstart. First off, fuck him for thinking he's Neil Peart. Secondly, fuck him for being the worst wannabe rock star this side of Dave Navarro. Thirdly, fuck all the T.I. dickriders who fail to mention how his drumwork completely sucks on "You Know Who" (yes, that's Travis Barker on a T.I. album). And finally, fuck him for giving his kid a fucking mohawk. Really, did he ask him about this before they went to the barber shop? What kind of shaky-ass parenting is that?
But mostly, fuck him for the music. I'm thinking of Boxcar Racer here. Remember the last song on Built To Spill's "There's Nothing Wrong With Love" that goes "I feel so lost inside/where do I hide?" Who would've thought that would be the most influential track from the entirety of the '90s? Boxcar Racer owes their entire career to twenty seconds of music. And then there was the Transplants, which inspired Rancid to be a freakin' gangsta rap act even though they're the Black Crowes of punk music. Except they never wrote a song as awesome as "Remedy."
Anyways, now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get back to Angels & Airwaves. I'll just lay it out for ya: Tom DeLonge, in addition to having a worse haircut than George from "Grey's Anatomy," now thinks he's in U2. I'm not making this up: Blink-182 spinoff that sounds like U2, and there are jobs at stake and millions of dollars invested so people can hear the results. Why even bother trying at this point? I used to think the "Lean With It, Rock With It" video represented our cultural nadir. And by the way, it's not like I'm an authority on this, but do black folks watch that and think to themselves, "this is setting us back 50 years"? Well, for white folks, it's Angels & Airwaves.
Or better yet, read this and try to resist throwing yourself off the highest building you can find. Maybe one day it will intersect with Pimp C Boulevard or something.
posted by Ian at 9:20 AM
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