I Love You Mathletes!
I had the most awkward introduction to the Mathletes ages ago. A guy tells me (with the best intentions) "Linus Pauling needs to play with the Mathletes so you can get in with the IBP crowd." Now, could you think of anything more crass? Not "The Mathletes are great!", not "They are fun!", not "You'll have a blast!", instead, some kind of audience wrangling angle. Hey, I'm not saying the LP4 couldn't use any audience it can find but, really, this is exactly how NOT to get me into a band. I love to play with bands because I admire what they do and it's a blast to play with cool bands. So, long story short that pretty much soured me on checking out the Mathletes for much too long. Stupid, I know, because at some point (I can't recall when) I finally did go see them and it was really good and really fun and really clever and really unique. Then, the more I saw them, the better they got. Each time just getting more and more fun and insane until finally they were like the circus pulling into town with every show and they had slyly morphed into one of my favorite bands. In fact they had reached that particular level of godhead where, if they were playing a show, I had to go no matter what. Even if it was only for a few songs it was always worth it because the Mathletes shows were a sincerely happy and joyous party.
Well last night felt like the end of a really great party - at least for the foreseeable future. Joe is leaving for a stint in Austin performing in a production of "Speedy Motorcycle" and the future of the Mathletes in their current form seems shaky but Joe says "We all have something amazing in the works for this summer that will dwarf anything and everything the Mathletes have been about lately; if it's any comfort, just know that the best is yet to come." I have no doubt he will not disappoint.
Anyhow, here are some pictures from last night at the Proletariat:
Mike Switzer checks his cell phone
for the lyrics to "Just like Heaven".
I shit you not!
Gie Gie takes her rightful place
as the perfect Joe Mathlete foil!
Carlos smilin' Dimes style!
Mathletes Stage Left!
Mathletes Stage Right!
Tom wows the crowd
with his Tambourine and his ass!
Well last night felt like the end of a really great party - at least for the foreseeable future. Joe is leaving for a stint in Austin performing in a production of "Speedy Motorcycle" and the future of the Mathletes in their current form seems shaky but Joe says "We all have something amazing in the works for this summer that will dwarf anything and everything the Mathletes have been about lately; if it's any comfort, just know that the best is yet to come." I have no doubt he will not disappoint.
Anyhow, here are some pictures from last night at the Proletariat:
Preparing for the assault,
the generals plan their set list!
the generals plan their set list!
In video games you have power-ups.
In music you have mixed drinks!
In music you have mixed drinks!
Gie Gie demanding opening band Fishboy
play "Quattro" which they flatly refused
despite her relentlessly shouting the
demand over half their set and shouting
"Fuck You! You suck! Play Quatro!"
You have to admire the woman's tenacity.
play "Quattro" which they flatly refused
despite her relentlessly shouting the
demand over half their set and shouting
"Fuck You! You suck! Play Quatro!"
You have to admire the woman's tenacity.
Mlee Preparing for her debut as a Mathlete
- that pinnacle to which so many musicians
strive to archive!
- that pinnacle to which so many musicians
strive to archive!
Mathletes quiz!
Can you guess what song is being covered?
Can you guess what song is being covered?
Joe in the zone!
Mike Switzer checks his cell phone
for the lyrics to "Just like Heaven".
I shit you not!
Gie Gie takes her rightful place
as the perfect Joe Mathlete foil!
"Quatro! Quatro! Quatro!"
demands the audience!
demands the audience!
Carlos smilin' Dimes style!
Mathletes Stage Left!
Mathletes Stage Right!
Jenny trying to remember the lyrics!
Joe testifies!
The Mathletes has a horn section!!!
Iram as Lou Reed!
The fearless leader and his minions!
Tom wows the crowd
with his Tambourine and his ass!
Mlee Vs Robot Gie Gie!
Robots,
Joe possibly falling off the stage,
some guy in the audience playing harmonica.
Don't ask!
It's a Mathletes show!
Joe possibly falling off the stage,
some guy in the audience playing harmonica.
Don't ask!
It's a Mathletes show!
Have fun in Austin Joe.
May the road rise with you.
We'll keep a light on for you.
Love,
Houston
Labels: Mathletes, Proletariat
53 Comments:
Wow all that happened before 11 PM? That's when you said you had to leave anyway.
Looks like a frolicking good time. And good for them taking the SM show on the road. It's about time. They ought to bring that show to a lot of towns.
Joe is a truly amazing guy - smart, funny, talented and nice. Go Joe.
Truth be told, credit must go to my good parents who were kind enough to babysit Orion at the last minute allowing me to stay until closing. Though I did have to then crash at my folks which is not as comfy as you own bed but hey a small price to pay, eh? Hooray for the folks!
I was gonna say. If that all happened b4 11 then H-town has changed quite a bit.
Good for you, getting out. Did Carlos' post make you jealous too?
Now both of you guys are making me jealous. Hell man, on top of 11 hour days I'm also working weekends right now. I need a night out!
Do have some hope in sight though. My mom and sis are in town and they offered to babysit one night.
Nice pics btw.
From all the bands that you write about, the mathletes are the one that i am most curious about and would most like to see live. so lets hope for more shows, maybe some out of town shows?
great photo essay.
When did Houston become the backslapping, hugs and smiles capitol of the world? Geez...
Baby, Houston is all love and kisses.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was the guy Ramon's talking about, ages ago as he says. However, to be fair, I mentioned the fact that they were big with the IBP crowd because at the time, that's really the only milieu I'd experienced them in, at the Axiom, playing for a primarily IBP crowd. Shit, if I'd known all it would take to convince Ramon that we should play with them was to say "they're a lot of fun" I'd have just said that. Silly me.
But honestly they've really bloomed since that time. They were always a good band, but they didn't used to have such unique and chaotic stage shows. I don't know when it happened, but at some point their shows started to became events, and it went from being a regular band of like four or five or six people to this huge rotating cast of players that Joe draws from, so every show ends up being different. They did a show at Notsuoh last year where he invited a bunch of people to sing on some of the songs dressed in choir robes. I believe that was the same time he used three separate rhythm sections for the show. I don't really know if Joe was always entirely comfortable with the chaos, but I think it made for some really interesting shows. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when he comes back, he'll pick the Mathletes back up.
Eekk I wasn't trying to out you Charlie. I know you dig the Mathletes and didn't want to give the wrong impression. You just phrased your argument funny was all.
When did Houston become the backslapping, hugs and smiles capitol of the world? Geez...
It's been about 10 years now. The self-congratulation disease was first introduced to Houston by explorers from Austin and it has slowly been infecting everyone here ever since. I'm not sure why Houston was immune to it previously, but whatever resistance we had seems to be gone. I figure the reason you haven't been infected is that you don't come into regular contact with people. As with the plague, being a hermit can have its advantages.
Charlie - I thought it could have been something I'd say too. It's the sort of thing that can sound sleazier than it is out of context.
I think that locals first attitude is definitely strong in H-town right now but that thing has been there a long time. They got some of that in Oklahoma City too, Cleveland, Dayton, Detroit, New York City, Chicago, LA...
I'm not a fan of it when it surmounts the amount of goodness coming from the stage.
The IBP crowd brings its own brand of self-congratulation to any party - partly well-deserved and partly just a thespian thing that can be nauseating to an outsider but on the bright side, they know how to have fun. Go Gie Gie.
Ha yeah, Gie Gie was in fine form on Friday. :)
Oh, and don't let Justin's comment throw you off he was there and I'm sure he had a blast too.
John's just fussy because...well he's John.
And again I don't want to make it sound like Charlie is this calculating schmuck. It took me until last year to figure out that he won't just say "I think this wold be really cool" and instead he'll say something like "The fans would really love this." (You know, like Charlie has Zogby running LP4 polls from our vast fan base.) You have to kind of beat the first person out of Charlie. So yeah don't get the wrong impression.
I don't know, I always figured if someone takes the time to tell me they liked or didn't like something or whatever, I should pass it on. I tend to think that carries more weight than just me liking it.
I'm not sure I see that much of the self-congratulation though I guess some... maybe since I don't go out much I don't pick up on it as much. It also may have something to do with the blog culture, since more people write about stuff for public consumption, but outside of the usual press context. But I have to say I did find it really weird when I first moved here and picked up on the nearly omnipresent Houston self-deprecation, occasionally bordering on self-loathing. I never really did understand that. It annoys the hell out of me sometimes, but I must admit it keeps most people grounded and probably contributes in some way to so much of the music being so good here.
And on that note, Ramon, if you ever catch me actually using the word "fans" in connection with our band, you have my permission to give me a swift kick in the ass. That's just not a term that should be uttered by anyone who actually plays music.
Somebody needs to explain to me what they hell you guys are talking about. Self-congratulation? like telling youself, good job? is that what happened at hte mathletes show? people talked to themselves saying i've done a good job? I dont undertand that. my memories of houston, people were realistic and played down what they did, but people still congratulated each other and were happy when a good job was done. so i'm not sure what justin and john are talking. i think they should elaborate what they mean and how it relates to mathletes show. or IBP. or whatver it is that it's related to.
I suppose that calling me fussy is fair enough, and ultimately it is Ramon's reluctance to get involved in these pathological outbursts of mine that gives him an edge when I go after his comfort zone. And also, with all due repect to Joe Mathlete, whom I know not a whit, and IBP for that matter, a group that also has admittedly had almost no effect on me at all, it is this scenic sanctity regimen that is regularly espoused by you Ramon that gets under my skin. I'm sorry if it's fussiness that is at the root of this, but there is something dubious to me about a city with a music scene that is filled with people who smile all the time. It really is that easy. I know that guys like me bother people like Charlie, I've known that forever, and I know it's because my natural state of distrust, self-deprecation, and general discomfort, when dealing in a live music context, or a people context in general, is just as much a part of that game as anything else. I don't care to proselytize, convert, or sway anyone to my point of view. The backslap comment is an observation based on an entire fucking year of posts by Ramon filled with photos of people appearing to be in some rapturous state of spiritual joy. Anytime I see that sort of thing happening on a regular basis I call bullshit. It's a flaw, but I live with it. Honestly, I make no apologies, because seriously, who the fuck am I? Let someone else keep the juices of joy flowing here. That's usually not ever going to be me. No one should get testy when someone like me spreads his ugly about. Don't worry, the entire music scene will keep smiling regardless. I don't poison the well with my simpering. I know the photos of beer-holding, sweaty-headed hipsters, the same revolving cast of them, many of these shots taken by Ramon, a lifelong non-scenester until the last few years, now turned neo-pushy scene preacher, will keep coming, week after back slapping week. Just as I will undoubtedly back myself deeper into a corner that gets darker and less inviting with each fussy outburst. And for the record, I think Justin was being facetious. Could be wrong.
As you were.
Back slappers.
Oh, and by self-congratulatory, I am referring to the scene itself and it's propensity towards being so fucking amused with its own wonderfulness. Isn't anyone humble anymore? Doesn't anyone suspect maybe it all sucks? To me that is just healthy. Something in me dies everytime I read about the pious absolutes and inherent natural goodness that is being delivered with these local music reports. Come on, this is Houston. And as Justin so comically pointed out, not Austin.
Fuck.
John as a former Lexington resident
you know that if this were the late 80's and there were blogs then we'd have happy posts of Mike Gunn, Pain Teens, Sugar Shack, Dry Nod, De Schmog or what have you up here.
I mean of course people are going to be smiling at a show! Why go out if it's not fun? Isn't that the point?
Also, It's not like Joe Mathlete is pushing himself on everyone. If Joe were talking about how great he is, that would be one thing but self-deprecation and humility still abound; Joe, Mlee, The Dimes, Mike and Charlie, Gie Gie, and everyone else on stage there aren't braggarts they are all talented, humble, and generous people.
Plus,I used to do the local show and this is no different. I still love what is happening in Houston and I think it's better than it's ever been.
One thing I totally got out of Theresa K's visit here to exhibit her photography is that in the 70s and early 80s LA and New York punk scenes they new they had something special and all celebrated it. I don't see anything wrong with saying this is wonderful because, guess what, that national band that Pitchfork or some crappy specialty satellite radio show is raving about this week "says nothing to me about my life, hang the blessed DJ"
;)
does anyone here read the comic strip "pearls before swine"? if so, you may understand when i say that i am starting to picture ramon as Pig and john as Rat.
seriously, i like that this blog has room for both ramon and john and their respective worldviews.
at this pont in my life, it would take a heavily armed swat team to get me to a club for whatever "scene"....unless mike gunn were to come to austn....
For the record John, although you would certainly think your negativity would bother me, for some reason it generally doesn't. Every once in awhile it seems a little overboard, but I like to remind myself that no one ever really knows where anyone else is coming from, so best not to presume.
I don't really let any of this self-congratulatory vs. self-deprecating thing bother me anymore, but I remember when I was a good bit younger it always seemed like everyone I knew in bands in Houston had (to varying degrees) what seemed to be something of a defeated attitude about their music/bands/shows/whatever. I'm sure a lot of that was exaggerated for comic/tragic effect, but I have not so much specific memories as an overall general memory of feeling like I was the only person in Houston who thought all the stuff I saw going on was just amazing and wonderful and so on. Maybe some of that came from me coming out of Baton Rouge where there didn't seem to be much of any local music scene to speak of. I just always figured something in the middle was best, not that self-deprecating and not really overly self-congratulatory either. Kind of like what Carlos was saying... recognizing you're just doing what you do and it's no earth-shattering thing, but at the same time not being afraid to pat yourself on the back when you do a good job, like when you see a dozen faces, and you rock them all.
Not really that related, but thinking about this jogged my memory... I remember back in his Charalambides days, I think in '95 or '96, Jason Bill used to hang out at the Hawthorne House a bit when he was jamming with Mike, and one time he told me he couldn't stand any of the music he'd ever played. I just thought that was absurd, but I guess that was his extreme form of self-deprecation and/or a desire to do better.
Problem Area: Potential Live Music Goer assumes local music scene sucks. PLMG is not a regular LMG but somebody who might be an LMG if conditions are right.
Adding to the Problem:
1. Zealous LMG who confuses partying and comradre with the ability for his scene to bring in new LMG's.
2. bands who spend too much time partying and comradre-ing to put on a good show.
Solutions:
1. stop giving a fuck and just be thankful there's room at the bar.
2. forget the zealous rahrah business and put on good shows instead.
3. find a way to put on a good show that doesn't just include the satisfaction of your little circle-jerk group (or go back to solution 1).
I am not slagging Joe in any way. Don't know him a lick, wouldn't presume to. I am just too distrustful of anyone, let alone a group of rock fans, when it comes to comraderie and the like. That's me, no big deal. I just get tired of all the moonie joyous ejaculating that goes around about it. I get the idea of going out and having fun, and may even do some of that in the future at some point as one of K's PLMGs. Fun is fun. if that means you have a huge circle of friends at shows, in bands, so be it. Who am I to judge, no?
I just don't dig too much of that. I know, no one asked me, but then no one ever does, so I spout.
I would be lying if I said I didn't have a huge, honest fucking smile on my face at the Mike Gunn show, or that I wasn't down with the comraderie there. So I am not a total buzzkill. Something here just gets under my skin. I may be juvenile, okay, I am juvenile, but I like a certain amount of reservation and reserve in an audience most of the time. but that's me, retarded and a party of one.
Yes Ramon, your dj days were a huge local shot in the arm, it's true, you got me there. God knows your enthusiasm has saved me from oblivion many times in the past, and I am sincerely indebted to you for that.
None the less, you're still a cocksucker and I still hate you.
And that goes for the rest of you fucks too. So, fuck you all! Yay!
Btw Ramon (and anybody else who thinks I'm calling 'em out with my silliness here) - I've personally been on all sides of this argument and unlike that mean awful Cramer dude I don't have any problem with somebody's attitude changing over the course of their life. Hell man if I hadn't done that I'd still be a major asshole (now I'm a minor asshole which is a sad course as is it is a chord).
So if you used to be a hater and now you're a lover or vice versa than whatever, contradiction is a human trait. In that regard, our culture seems to allow certain types of artists (say novelists) the leisure of change, while others (say rockers) not so much.
p.s. these 7 day work weeks are killing me (and I'm taking you with me!)
Don't worry too much K, it only gets worse. you know, until you die anyway.
I did ask, john. and thank you for expanding. as much as i dont like empty encouragement, i also dont like offhanded cynicism. I do think your skepticism is healthy. in my experience behind all that love and fun that ramon's posts seem to convey, there is often a good amount of jealousy, backstabbing, gossiping, fame seeking, money grubbing, etc etc etc, yet, nothing wrong with focusing on the positive side once in a while. balance is good. the opposite of that positivism is not all that great either.
And like ramon has often mentioned, those scenes in NYC and LA were misunderstood as being more than they actually were, based, often, on the documentation created about them. a misunderstanding which in turn pretty much marked their demise by attracting a bunch of people that joined up thinking they were joining the answer to mysteries of the universe or something. as we all know, people are sheep.
now i'm spouting...yay?
And lets not forget that ramon can dish it out when needed... remember the local dj post, the dimes dropping out the festival post, and enough other posts of the sort that were far from conveying that loving feeling.
I'm a little slow, but I will never forget that Ramon can dish it out. Never.
Playing with The Mathletes is fun.
Playing with a ton of people and new people all the time is fun.
Hanging out with young people who aren't quite so bitter is fun.
and this show actually was odd in that we did not know a lot of the people in the audience.
was it sloppy?
were wrong notes played?
hell yes.
but it was a party.
I have to admit though, I was disappointed in the fact that the mics weren't on for the horns. I'd always hoped to be a part of at least one Mathletes show where you could actually hear the horns, but it was not to be.
"there is often a good amount of jealousy, backstabbing, gossiping, fame seeking, money grubbing, etc etc etc..."
Maybe I'm naive but honestly I don't think Houston has much of a problem with any of that. I mean yeah there will always be one or two people who will fit that bill but that's hardly representative.
Man, Charlie, you fuckin' whiner. Can't you just relax and have fun for once, you bitter old man.
Jeez..and come on, this is Mathletes show. Joe sings about Animals, Robots, Spaceships and the like. Jeez. I'm a guy who is happy to watch Chowder with my son in Cartoon Network; a Mathletes show isn't much different - there's nothing much more going on than just simple fun. I think there is something genius about just having fun. All you nappers out there with kids will know that.
that said Thank you Joe for the booze soaked playground.
Sometimes dammit, a man has to put his foot down, rest manly hand on manlier hip, and whine his ass off.
His firm and manly ass, right Charlie? mmmmmm, Ouch.
It's a real whiner's ass, it's true.
john people are so happy because there has been a distinct lack of smack and cheap speed for a few years now. when the border wall is built, cocaine will disappear, rapture will soon follow, and pitchfork will declare houston the new cleveland. which will lead to the complete collapse of punk. (btw houston punk is just as mean, nasty, wickedly funny, and smart as its ever been.)
I've attended a lot of "fun" shows over the years, some here, some in Austin, etc. I've seen plenty of "fun" bands, and in general, I despise almost all of them. Sure, sometimes I have a good time watching them, and given enough liquor, I'll even dance to them. But then, given enough liquor, I'll dance to "Mustang Sally" or a Foghat cover. It's kind of like free pizza...sure, it may not be the best pizza I've ever had, but holy shit, it's cheese, bread and tomato sauce. How bad can it be? Are you just gonna let it sit there and get cold? You don't want that last piece, do you? Fucker.
That having been said, I had the privilege of playing a show recently with the Mathletes. Although the music they play is far, far from anything like the music I would personally choose to make, it is also well written, catchy, memorable, energetic, and yes, fun. Plus they have a great stage show, which is something that not many bands in Houston have. I'm sad that they are signing off for a while, and that I only got to see them that one time, but at least I saw them at the top of their game.
Clinton's comment reminds me. John Cramer once came up to KTRU and on the fly did a 30 minute or so space opera .... umm something about Sector 7...How fucking cutesey is that? I'm sure there was a John Cramer listening-in to John Cramer thinking "listen to that smug hipster bastard jerking-off on the radio! I call bullshit!"
Well maybe John's point, if I read between the lines a bit, is that Houston seems a bit more self-aware of its "scene" than it has been in the past. Or at least segments of it are.
One shift that has occured, good or bad, is that music coverage in Houston was traditionally limited to Houston Press, and the defunct Public News, who invariably seemed to emphasize commercially focused bands. The development of online communities such as this one (and many others) have changed that a little. In a big town - very spread out, like Houston is - an online community can have a lot of impact; taking the place of word of mouth, etc. which works well in concentrated communities like college towns but not so well here.
The impact of online communities is often disproportionate to their numbers; ask anyone in conventional media about political blogs, etc. Their relevance becomes a self-referential topic at some point; this blog seems to have reached that point some time ago.
Not to get all Chomsky on anyone, but if you seize the high ground in defining something, and name it before anyone else does, then you have a lot of influence over that thing and what it becomes.
To me, defining the Houston "scene" has always seemed to be an attempt to create tenuous links between bands stretching back as far as the 60s, kind of a forced exercise of connect-the-dots. For example, people have noted the history of bands like Red Krayola in citing Houston as a font of the Texas Psych scene. Well, I never saw, or heard, Red Krayola. I never met anyone who was in the band. They had far less influence on me than, say, Cream or even Traffic.
I did know of Ronnie Bond, but I was too young to have ever seen Really Red in their prime. I did see the Party Owls though. My own dots started connecting then, and when I heard other Texas bands like Scratch Acid or the Butthole Surfers.
Add in Sugar Shack, the Mike Gunn, and a few other bands like Dry Nod, Bongtooth, Bleachbath, the LP4, etc. and you can make a kind of family tree of bands that either influenced me, or who had members I was friends with, etc.
You could see the last hurrah of that "scene", really, at the Mike Gunn reunion Garage Fest show. But the bands at that show don't really have any lineal descendants. Some of the guys from that scene still have bands and play out, but by and large there seems to have been a sea change toward these "fun" bands that I keep hearing about. Energetic, fast paced, art-punkish, quasi-danceable. They play out more, they're younger and so is their audience, which has a lower incidence of kids or soul-crushing jobs or mortgages sending them to bed at 10pm. And they're inheriting a Houston that is way, way different from the one I grew up in - a lot more diverse and much more livable. And Rosa may have hit on something about the drugs coming in over the border...maybe these folks aren't quite as strung out, doped out, and fucked up as the crowd I remember - many of whom were misanthropes, freaks, drunks, drug addicts, losers, and weirdos. Whatever the case, the new breed do seem to be a little more well-adjusted on average. Some of these bands even border on being wholesome. And why shouldn't they be? Times are good in H-town these days, for the most part.
But as for myself, I'll probably just hole up with a few old Sabbath records, and wait for all this happy crap to blow over.
Maybe John's right Maybe what I should do is instead about writing about local musicians that are fun and inspiring I should take up the blogging style of Craig Hlavaty at the Hopuston Press who discusses music in an educational and inforamtive manner. Take a few examples:
like Oats Watch 2008,That's Mr. Manson To You, Dolly Parton Has bigg Boobs, Amy Winhouse, Amy Winehouse,Amy ... well you get the idea. I mean if that doesn't speak to you about day to day life I don't know what does.
But putting aside the sarcasm, I mean sorry if local bands suck in the eyes of people who stay home and cream over the latest thing pitchfork is ready to sell them from some other, more worthy, city but right now Houston has a vast range of great bands and it has nothign to apologize for. You name it. you want subtlety, dynamics and musicianship umm how about the Jonx, B, Sharks and Sailors, Blades. You want cheery and clever music that will perk you up how about the dimes, mathletes, the wiggins, or Jenny westbury. You want brillaint songwriters with a vast range how about Mlee Suprean's Hearts of animals or Mlee Marie. You want to be crushed Insect Warfare, humanicide, Laws, el desmadre. You want insane garage how about cop warmth or Fatal Flying guilloteens. Dramatic and Atmospheric how about Balaclavas. Ummm just straightr up brillaint indie rock how about bring back the guns, bright men of learning, or Judas Bear. Noise? John Muzak, concrete violin, rotten piece..And I could go on and on... god forbid if I bring in the ex-pats.
I mean jeez. There is great music and there are great musicians. I'll leave it to the Houston Press's Wack column to be snarky and irrelevant. Being snarky and cynical I still contend is a rhetorical crutch. Snarkiness simply bores me.
Well, your links to HP kind of make my point for me, which is that HP spills a lot of ink on generic pop culture and out of town acts while mostly ignoring local music; NAP and other local music blogs are filling that void.
There's nothing wrong with any of this, by the way. I'm glad that there is an abundance of local bands out there. Some are better than others. But to be perfectly honest, there's just not much that floats my boat these days, because I am a cranky old fuck who digs old, loud, heavy, trippy acid blues, and I just can't really relate to most of these bands.
That having been said, there are some, like the Mathletes, who are really good at what they do and are immensely entertaining. They're kind of an exception, though, rather than a rule, for bands in this town.
Once again, you simpering retard, I am not jabbing the local music itself, because honestly I don't know a thing about it. I am only jabbing the guy who gushes about it weekly in the NAP. Beyond that, I couldn't care less where a bad is from as long as I like them.
Also, from the admittedly little I have heard from the Jonx, subtlety is not something I would attribute to them. Not that they can't deliver it, because they can probably do whatever they damn well choose, but, I'm just sayin'.
Going back over this nonsense, I realized that several comments back I referred to my using the term "self congratulatory." I regret making that reference, because, well, I never used the term in the first place. Justin did.
It sucks being me.
Carry on.
I'm still upset at Cramer for that cupcake comment.
But anyway... I think sparrow might have hit on something that may point to why the bands are different these days, in general that is. Could basically just be a general difference between generations. Gen X is just pissy and dark and depressed in general, though its not their fault. They're just fucked, sorry (world events and beginning of divorce, etc). And here comes Gen Y and their happy comfortable place because of their very involved and loving parents.
Now, Gen Y we know connects more and is into groups out of any other group.
Combine that with Rosa's drug connection, or lack thereof, and maybe good old Gen X is finally getting into the happy which is a'plenty in Htown as the younger groups come to play. Happy in sound or happy in attitude.
And Gwahlah, you have today's bands.
It's good to have a blog like this and I hope there are many more in each city, as well as some online magazines/newspapers. Places like HP and PN did their best, but you can only cover so much. And I'm sure PN would die to hear they were compared so similarly to HP. Bottom line, you have to sell advertising to pay the people working for you.
Sorry to get all researchy. But here's another, one guy from the NYT said that you stop enjoying new music about age 34, and if you haven't tasted sushi by age 35 you never will. That article really hurt me.
Whoa.
Just once I'd like to hear some music that moved me from one of those kids who was given it "all".
Don't be upset. I'm not worth it.
I was probably being a little hard on Public News. They were certainly more likely to support local music than HP. But they were still a gatekeeper of sorts, whereas today there are a lot more sources of music coverage online and more avenues for a band to get their message out.
it's kind of like a world where everything is all fine and dandy, but where's the fun in it? the danger? the excitement?
that's an interesting point about the music coming out of new york in the 70s and 80s and the documentation of it making it more than it was so that people came flocking looking for the answer.
what were the new yorkers wanting and getting when they were creating whatever it was they were creating? were they finding the answer? what is the point of music anyway?
I'm not really upset cramer. 'The sex is in the cupcakes'? what the hell does that even mean anyway?
I don't know. You said it.
Mmmmmm.....cupcakes....
I just want you to know, that have qualities of dorkiness. And I want you to know that I know. That is all.
Thank god.
Enough pictures Ramon? Didn't even mention Whorehound, Bowel, Rustler, Motion Turns it On, Novice, Freed or even Novox. Thou gatekeeper, you.
yeah yeah I think I've mentioned all of those at some point. Maybe not novice but I'll be checking them out next month.
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