by the time you read this
I will be on an island.
The island, as many of you already know who read comments, is Great Barrier Island, a four-hour ferry ride from Auckland. I'm going there for the next thirteen weeks to edit a television show.
I'm told I have wireless Internet at the workplace but not much in terms of coverage where I'm staying, which is fine with me. I'll know more by the time you read this, but I don't know how easy it will be to post, which is why I'm writing from the past, to you in the future, which is now ... the present.
Anyway, next week fellow Ultra Hummusian Conor Prischmann will be guest blogging, and if any of the rest of you are dying for a turn at the steering wheel, well, now's not the worst time to speak up.
All of this means that I haven't had much time this week to put thought into my intended blog, which is partly on Smoosh. They're a two-piece band - a 14-year old keyboardist and a 12-year old drummer, I think (somewhere in that neighborhood), and their first album, SHE LIKE ELECTRIC, was a very pleasant discovery for me. "It's Not Your Day To Shine" is featured on this week's podcast, and it gives you a feel for what it's like. Maybe you'll like it. Lots of other people have, and they've gotten a lot of attention as a result.
Their new album, FREE TO STAY, came out this year on Barsuk Records (aka "The House That Death Cab For Cutie Built"), and was simultaneously a better and worse experience. It sounds better, the songwriting's more diverse, there's a wider sonic palette. But there's a sense - to me at least - that they're in danger of getting a little lost in all the machinery surrounding them.
It was hard for me to put a finger on it until the Earl Greyhound video, for some reason, made me think about bands that I didn't have a visual representation of, and I basically had little idea of what Smoosh actually looked like. And I wondered what somebody would think if they first discovered them through video instead of sound. So I did some YouTubing, and was kinda surprised that even when controlling to the same song, the experience can be vastly diverse.
Here, for instance, is the awkward but endearing live on TV Smoosh:
This is bizarre because, you know, they're teenagers playing on a national television show. Despite the national TV stage, you get a real sense of who they are from it as people, from their smiles and stray glances at each other. Which, as already noted, I find endearing.
Then, on the other hand, we have the slick music video Smoosh:
On a certain level, I really appreciate this video. It's pretty clever, some nice technical tricks. I'd probably be quite proud if I had directed it.
But I think back to the live Smoosh, and what I found endearing is pretty much absent. I'm not processing their personality; I'm gawking at camera tricks. Who are they? Dunno. But that subtitle thing was funny!
I'm not sure what all this adds up to, exactly. But I worry that the first Smoosh will be eaten by the second Smoosh, and I'm a little sad about that.
If you're so inclined, you can spend a lot more time on YouTube seeing Smoosh play at live concerts, in record stores, etc., and you can triangulate your image of them in your head.
But I don't have time because, like I said, I'm heading for an island.
Play nice while I'm gone.
The island, as many of you already know who read comments, is Great Barrier Island, a four-hour ferry ride from Auckland. I'm going there for the next thirteen weeks to edit a television show.
I'm told I have wireless Internet at the workplace but not much in terms of coverage where I'm staying, which is fine with me. I'll know more by the time you read this, but I don't know how easy it will be to post, which is why I'm writing from the past, to you in the future, which is now ... the present.
Anyway, next week fellow Ultra Hummusian Conor Prischmann will be guest blogging, and if any of the rest of you are dying for a turn at the steering wheel, well, now's not the worst time to speak up.
All of this means that I haven't had much time this week to put thought into my intended blog, which is partly on Smoosh. They're a two-piece band - a 14-year old keyboardist and a 12-year old drummer, I think (somewhere in that neighborhood), and their first album, SHE LIKE ELECTRIC, was a very pleasant discovery for me. "It's Not Your Day To Shine" is featured on this week's podcast, and it gives you a feel for what it's like. Maybe you'll like it. Lots of other people have, and they've gotten a lot of attention as a result.
Their new album, FREE TO STAY, came out this year on Barsuk Records (aka "The House That Death Cab For Cutie Built"), and was simultaneously a better and worse experience. It sounds better, the songwriting's more diverse, there's a wider sonic palette. But there's a sense - to me at least - that they're in danger of getting a little lost in all the machinery surrounding them.
It was hard for me to put a finger on it until the Earl Greyhound video, for some reason, made me think about bands that I didn't have a visual representation of, and I basically had little idea of what Smoosh actually looked like. And I wondered what somebody would think if they first discovered them through video instead of sound. So I did some YouTubing, and was kinda surprised that even when controlling to the same song, the experience can be vastly diverse.
Here, for instance, is the awkward but endearing live on TV Smoosh:
This is bizarre because, you know, they're teenagers playing on a national television show. Despite the national TV stage, you get a real sense of who they are from it as people, from their smiles and stray glances at each other. Which, as already noted, I find endearing.
Then, on the other hand, we have the slick music video Smoosh:
On a certain level, I really appreciate this video. It's pretty clever, some nice technical tricks. I'd probably be quite proud if I had directed it.
But I think back to the live Smoosh, and what I found endearing is pretty much absent. I'm not processing their personality; I'm gawking at camera tricks. Who are they? Dunno. But that subtitle thing was funny!
I'm not sure what all this adds up to, exactly. But I worry that the first Smoosh will be eaten by the second Smoosh, and I'm a little sad about that.
If you're so inclined, you can spend a lot more time on YouTube seeing Smoosh play at live concerts, in record stores, etc., and you can triangulate your image of them in your head.
But I don't have time because, like I said, I'm heading for an island.
Play nice while I'm gone.
32 Comments:
If i didnt know they were 12 and 14 I would think they sucked. They're good for their age, great even, but they should be playing talent shows in their high school, not the national stage. That live at Jimmy Kimballs reminds me of the Shaggs in its cute discomfort. But the second one reminds me of the sad image in The Wall of the children being put thru the meat grinder. I bet Roger Waters never imagined the meat grinder would be dressed like rock and roll. Saying that they play instruments, write their own songs, that this is what they want to do and that they won't tell people their last name sounds eerily similar for the excuses some parents give who let their teenagers date people over 21. There are a lot of things teenagers want to do, but we dont let them. This should be one of them. If they're not old enough to consent to sex and not old enough to work they're not old enough to decide they want to go on a national tour, unless it was a national tour of high schools or something. I'll take the Dresden Dolls piano/drums team any day over these two adorable girls.
Doug, Wait! You can't go away without first explaining how film makers do that trick where the same person appears more than once in the same frame??!! I've always wondered how they do that.
Good luck and go swimming in the ocean for us.
I agree with you Carlos even though I don't know who the Dresden Dolls are. Although, watching teen stars struggle to find an adult life and then melting down ala Britney is sort of fun. That's mean-spirited, isn't it? I take it back.
It is, but don't take it back.
I wouldn't exactly say they suck, but I do think the formula goes something like this:
Mates of State + Hanson = Smoosh
I also think the ratio of Mates of State to Hanson is not 1:1, so the above formula is just an approximation.
I have to agree with Carlos but the thing about the Shaggs is that thy were really and truly unique. Based on this one song it reminds me of a lot of Teen Nick rock moreso than any indie rock cited in any press release. That's not to say that people shouldn't like them but where is the interview where they talk about Quasi, Le Tigre, or Tori Amos? I've not seen one yet. It's the grown up saying that. I just see enough kids TV where I am hearing a completely different influence than what critics seem to suggest. I mean their name is influenced by Smashmouth - that tells you a lot of where they are coming from.
Here I think it only highlights how getting national attention is so very much based on being at the right place at the right time. If their encouraging drum teacher hadn't been DCFC's drummer, we would most likely be discussing them at this juncture in their careers. Also, I think that Rolling Stone and other magazine's love stories like this because they are easy to write about. it's much more of a hook to talk about pre-teens signing a record deal (read "freakshow") than say Ornette Coleman's new album.
I wonder if this is part of that new evil parents making their kids live out their rock fantasies. I'm not sure you read it but a while back there was an article in the NYT about parents putting them through rock school. That phenomenon really takes away the whole DIY thing.
But I disagree with Carlos - kids should be encouraged. I only think that they need to do it themselves.
I don't know if these kids are doing it for themselves or not but their audience is young people so on that level it's a heck of a lot better than Britney but maybe not Spice Girls. I mean really, lanky is cool but tell me who you really really really want?
There's a complimentary brother band in New York right now. I've read some stuff on them and they are clearly in to what they are doing and writing their own music which shouldn't be very surprising since "child prodigy" has been around since at least Mozart. And btw these bands are doing cornball indie rock not composing a claviet concerto (which is the first thing Mozart composed at the wise old age of four). Anyway I can't recall the East Coast brother band name. I tried looking it up but typing "young brothers new york rock stars" into google isn't helpful.
My current favorite kid rock is Disney's Devo 2.0
Ramon, I didn't mean to imply that kids should not be encouraged. I believe kids should be encouraged to go in whatever direction makes them happy. And they should be encouraged to play and record music as much as they want. And if these girls are booking their own national tour, signing their own record label deal and scheduling their own appreance on Jimmy Kimball's then wow, that would be impressive. but somehow i dont think thats the case. Which means to me that someone else is making a buck of off somethign they are doign for fun and probably dont even know the full implications of what they are involved with, and that just turns my stomach.
Carlos,
Yeah, that's kind of my point but not so much that it turns my stomach.
Kilian.
Devo 2.0 was the straw that broke this camel's back with DEVO. Sorry but that was just a crass money grab as far as I'm concerned.
But to your other point. My issue isn't that Smoosh are Teen Nick ready just that critics are making them out to be more sophisticated than they really sound to me based on this one song. I think the references I read either come from bad publicist materials or lazy writers who throw in say Tori Amos because Amos is the only woman ever to have played piano in the history of mankind.
Now at least they say they write their own material and that's a million times better than any manufactured band but like Carlos says someone else is doing the heavy lifting but..
Here's the rub if they were twenty three I doubt they'd be getting this kind of publicity because the freakshow/ it's-easy-to-write-about-it angle would be gone and all they'd talk about would be the music and this same music wouldn't stand up. And you can't say it's good for their age. it's either good or it's not. For the genre of Teen rock, it is par for the course.
But I figure at least this gives the Ped's something new to fixate on now that Brittany and the Olsen Twins are legal. That's mean-spirited, isn't it? I take it back.
the good thing is that these kids cannever be as fucked up as Prussian Blue are or will be. That kind of took the fucked up child star threshold, drove it off the edge, off the cliff, and kept the pedal down.
"straw that broke the camel's back"
How many Devo straws were you collecting before this one?
Actually Mark Mothersbaugh has had a very long relationship with Disney so it's almost more of an inside joke than a cash grab. But yeah it's cheeseball. I just love the idea of a new generation singing these songs. I remember I was pretty young when I got into Devo. It's always been teeny bopper stuff at heart.
p.s. Good one! Prussian Blue, what a way to end Black History Month
forgot about that crap.
teeny Bopper? Eh, I don't know, the pre-Warner Brothers/Eno Devo recordings are pretty twisted. The song Midgett is pretty fucked up:
I had the body of a two and a half
Year old baby
I had the brain of a man
I used to play underneath my momma’s skirts
All day
I parked my car in her garage
She didn’t know I was a midget
She thought it was all innocent play
She didn’t know I was a midget
But when dad came home she put me away
That reminds me of Sex Dwarf by Soft Cell, another twisted teeny bopper band.
When we hit the floor
You just watch them move aside
We will take them
For a ride of rides
They all love your
Miniature ways
You know what they say
About small boys
Well, you all know how I feel about Devo, my experiences put them into the total assholes that made some incredible music at one point. I find their early stuff, even as far as New Traditionalists (though that starts to show some cracks) still holds up to this day as well as when i was a teenager. The Devo 2.0, hwoever, exactly what i would expect from them. They never made any qualms about selling out and even at their ripe old age of whatever they still say their doing it for the money and the sex. Its ridiculous but thats they are still the most subgenius of any band i can think of, though admitedly i'm not thinkin that hard about it.
And heids, I thought by know the Dresden Dolls were a household name. They're a little more theatrical than most people can take, but i saw them in a small dive a few years ago and they were just amazing. Recently they've been playing larger venues so I'm over them, not to mention they have a whole troop of fans that "participate' in the shows and i wonder how that works, but its doesnt sound attractive to one who just wants to see m play. They do have some great songs and really push the drums/piano duo thing in a good way. In particular Missed Me which seems appropriate to this blog, so i'll quote the first verse:
"Missed me missed me now you've got to kiss me
If you kiss me mister i might tell my sister
If i tell her mister she might tell my mother and my Mother, mister, just might tell my father and my father, Mister he won't be too happy and he'll have his lawyer come up from the city and arrest you mister so i wouldnt miss me if you get me, mister, see?"
killian are you talking about the muldoons?
i don't know why but kid bands marketed to an adult audience just bugs the crap out of me. and once again i think it's culture clash. (i'm sorry dd, i didn't listen to them - i'm really commenting on the commentary).
in other cultures (or rural and poor urban american cultures) children become very self sufficient at an early age. and if they are serious/talented musicians they become part of the adult community AS A PEER. one example off the top of my head is jackie mittoo. jackie was a professional musician at age 14. he was a studio musician at studio one very quickly after that.
i want to say alex chilton was 16 when he sang 'the letter'. and of course punk rock is littered with teen bands.
i saw a metal band comprised of 14 year olds recently. they were awful. but the audience was comprised largely of musicians who held their tongue because they didn't want to discourage them (plus mom and dad were front and center). finally, mercifully, my very drunk friend amanda yelled "you suck! get off stage!" which broke the spell and allowed the next band to storm the stage and unplug them before they caused any more damage to our ears.
i had a point but i have to go and fly a kite now. YAY!
No it's not the Muldoons, I figured it out its the Naked Brothers Band. They are younger than Smoosh and clearly (I sure hope!) marketed for kids their own age which is what I gather Smoosh is all about. Both bands seem to be writing from a vantage consistent with their age not like the Muldoons or Pure Rubbish who are clearly rushing out of childhood penis first.
I'd like to see Smoosh have a pants off dance off with Prussian Blue, the Nazi girl band who have been playing out since they were 9.
Figurative.
I dont see how Smoosh is being marketed to kids their own age by playing on Jimmy Kimball, or the Knitting Factory, or opening for Pearl Jam or DCFC, or their current tour partners, Bloc Party. Is that what the 10-15 set does this days?
I don't know squat about Smish except what I'm getting right here but their lyrics are really pre-teen girl stuff and so is the video...actually so is that other stuff you're talking about. The Knitting Factory has changed even since you lived in NYC. I can see Pearl Jam fans bringing their family to this one. Jimmy K is definitely talk tv for the younger set. And besides they are 12-14 and look pretty mature for their age so even if it's not the life a 13 year old girl has it's the one she wishes she had.
Yeah, apparently grade school kids dont play tag anymore and just stand around comparing cell phones and shoes. If 40 is the new 20, and 20 the new 40, then 10 is the new 30. I guess its more like it has been for most of history (and as Rosa points out, still is in many cultures) where childhood was not arrested as long as possible, and children couldnt wait to wear ties, join the workforce, get married, and have kids. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of Disney's dream of a world full of eternal children.
Hi from the island. Sigh, I guess I'm in the minority in liking Smoosh.
Heidi, there's a couple ways to do the "multiple people in one shot thing". One way is to set the tripod up, shoot the same frame with whatever you're doubling in different positions, then in the edit suite you paint over the empty part of one of the frames with the full part of the other frames. You can also do this with moving shots, provided you're using computer controls to get the exact shot multiple times. Also if you have uncontrolled lighting conditions things can get weird/ugly. Another way is to use blue screen, and then you color key the blue screen out and put whatever whenever.
Carlos you are talking like a young father I love it.
DD - I enjoyed Smoosh. I mean with messages like "this is not your day to shine" they aren't exactly speaking to me but I appreciate it. Reminds me of my little cousin who recently borrowed my brother's drum set to start her own high school band (which she apparently has already grown bored of). She's lanky and dorky cute like these girls.
I read a post on the Dresden Doll in the Chunklet blog, and in it Henry referenced an NPR (I think it was NPR) article on them and how they were persistently whining about how hard it is to make a living on the road. Their argument was that after they pay their huge crew, management, and the multiple thousand dollars a week for their bus (!), there is almost nothing left over for them.
Now I've never heard their music, so no comment there, but if they are this retarded about how they conduct their tour, things are not boding well for them in my book. The nerve. There are two of them, and they don't exactly need a bus or a crew of more than maybe two. So that's a van, or at the most a camper, and a much more substantial profit for the band members.
Don't whine about how hard it is to make a living when you are 1) a fucking mime, and 2) touring in a goddamn bus for chrissakes.
Sorry.
Aren't Prussian Blue tasty though? Kill me now.
DD,
When I first heard them, I was like, is this a Shags kind of thing? "Who Are Parents?" Then when I searched them for podcast images to use, I understood they were just kids. Knowing they were kids made it easier to like.
As far as them being bussed around like the Partridge Family, I'm all for kids being enabled and encouraged to make music. I think that parents who push music are a little more tolerable than say, child pageantry and football pushing parents. Whether or not the evils of the adult entertainment world are going to retard their developing into strong and sensible adults.... who knows? Thats one of those "The Strong Will Survive" deals I think... And it could be worse.
And, Prussian Blue is indeed worse in so many sad ways. When these girls grow up and look back on how they were used to sell Aryan Nationalist culture and merchandise, how are they gonna feel about it? Hopefully, they'll kill their parents and come around.
tally unrelated topic.
Yo Nappers,
Celine Dion
Oscars
I just had to mention it before any one else did.
Bastard...
I guess I am in the minority here, but I guess I thought Smoosh was kind of endearing too.
From a musical perspective, I liked that they did a lot of stuff that adults would be too jaded to even try, like the long pauses, etc.
Let me put it this way: when all of us have such a cynical reaction to a couple of little girls having fun and doing something creative, it says a lot more about the world we adults have made than it does about those girls.
Hey if it's any consolation, I haven't even bothered to listen to them yet. Not out of cynicism, but more out of sheer laziness! Yay me! So just to be supportive, I'll say I find Smoosh to be absolutely ingenius. The interplay between them on both videos actually is quite endearing. I can only hope that my soon to be newborn daughter is half as wonderful as these two.
Guess I'd better watch the videos now...
Clinton,
Given my love of simple pop (I have a Puffi album in my collection - I need say no more) so I've no issues with this band as a teeny bopper band. My issue, again, is that they really aren't what the adults make them out to be which is sophisticated beyond their years. Rubbish, they are teen girls writing exactly what you'd expect from generic teen girls.
My thoughts go to Lauren of Ume who was playing in a grindcore band in High School. Hell yeah and she can rip on a guitar like nobody's business.
Guess what, lots of kids do that too. I think there is a sense of preciousness in the articles on Smoosh that treat them as with a cute pat - pat aren't you clever attitude. The other thing is, again that, the articles I read tack on influences that I don't hear. I mean do you hear PJ Harvey? Fuck no. Again I hear Teen Nick ready.
That's all. review them as a teeny bopper band and I have no problem but that's not how they are being marketed - they are being marketed to adults. That's just weird on so many levels.
So yes it says a lot about adults but to me it's that they undervalue kids. Again "it's really good for their age." is an insult to anyone. It's either good or it's not. For me. it's not and that's because I hear stuff like this on kids television (as you will soon) all the time.
I just keep thinking, "wasn't Smoosh the pseudo-Britpop band on Mr. Show that sent the MTV contest winners to the moon to be executed?" I hope so.
Ramon,
I guess that's kind of my point, is that it's adults who are applying context to them. Bands of all ages, not just these two kids, are often victims of that. Someone comes along and over-hypes them, makes them into something they aren't, and then people wind up hating them because they don't deliver on promises they never made to begin with.
So in other words, you're critical of the criticism - not of the band, if I understand you right.
What you said about this being akin to stuff you'd see on kid's shows makes sense. I mean, it's kid music, and there's nothing wrong with that. Plus if you think about it, wouldn't a typical parent want their kids watching something like this - that is, music made by kids their own age that they can relate to - as opposed to all the oversexed, corporate-made teen diva crapola that's out there? I would definitely say this stuff - while not earth shaking or the next PJ Harvey or whatever, is a hell of a lot better than Britney Spears or whatever.
Carlos, I think there is a fable somewhere in here.... ? ? ?
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