Sock Hop Chop Flop
Oh, this is so meta. Pitchfork Media shits on David Cross's comedy album It's Not Funny, then apparently gives him an article for rebuttal. He proceeds to tear them to shit, mocking their pretension with a list of fake albums to listen to while reading Pitchfork reviews.
Read what I just linked. It's the best satire I've read in ages. It illustrates the neglected truth that being accurate is so much more damaging than being mean. Pitchfork aren't the only victims here; Cross points out how honestly ridiculous indie rock can be, mostly because it takes itself so goddamned seriously. Behold:
May I suggest listening to Until it Happens/You Let it Happen, by Maximum Minimum. The fourth album (not counting the re-release of the first three 7-inches on HugTown Records) reaffirms the band's status as the godfathers of the Taos, N.M. "crying scene." Like a gilded phoenix rising from the toxic ashes of the death of mercurial lead guitarist, Peter Chernin, Maximum Minimum snarls back like a taunted tiger on steroids (also on acid). RATING: 8.2
I've tried to get into indie rock. It won't take. I suppose I could try harder, because I do think that there is good music being made, but should listening to music be such hard work?
On the pop-whore/musical-elitist spectrum, I think I'm right in the middle. I don't feel like I have to choose between Jurassic 5 and Maroon 5. I'd like to think that the "street cred" of a given musical act is not a criterion by which I judge their music. And I can't help but think that "street cred" is the foremost thing on the mind of many indie rock bands, more important than the quality of the music, even. I feel like some of these bands would rather be indie than be good, intentionally eschewing hooks, verses, and choruses as a way to self-select their audience.
Now, I admit that this is just my perception, and I'm not leveling any specific accusations here. (For instance, I just remembered that jervo is, like, an actual member of the scene I'm talking about, but from what I can tell he's not a pretentious fuck. And I still haven't listened to his EP, which is a shame. I should get around to that.) Whenever I talk about music or cinema or comedy I suspect the gut feelings come first and the words come second - that I'm just painting a bullshit landscape over something that's deeper than logical thought. In the end, our musical sensibilities are almost biological in nature; we reject the artists we don't like much like a body might reject a transplanted organ.
I've just spent 20 minutes searching for a quote I read on a blog a month ago, because it summed up my indifference toward indie rock so succinctly. The gist: yeah, the music is good, but the scene is boring. The non-mainstream rock scene has historically been about pushing the envelope and nurturing teenage rebellion, but these days it feels more like it's nurturing teen angst and giving hipsters an excuse to feel superior.