I say confusion is next to happiness.
DAF: Der Mussolini
Burning question in indiepop land is Who the hell do Los Campesinos! think they are? when it should be At what point do we vanish up our own trapper keepers? Not even talking about asymmetrical haircuts! Or exclamation points!!!
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Good taste is the residue of someone else's privilege.
Los Campesinos!: International Tweexcore Underground (cross-posted from Pitchfork)
On their new single, Los Campesinos! name-drop (in order): Black Flag's Henry Rollins, Heavenly/Talulah Gosh's Amelia Fletcher, Minor Threat/Fugazi's Ian MacKaye, Beat Happening/K Records' Calvin Johnson, and Sarah Records. These mentions come in the form of "I never cared about..." or "...never meant anything to me." With last week's release of the video, the lyrics about Sarah, Amelia, and Calvin caused a bit of concern over on an indiepop list where I lurk, and frankly I was a bit taken aback at first as well.
Fortunately, Dave Maher was more diligent in his fact-gathering than I was and dug up a bulletin from the band's MySpace. In their own, disappointingly exclamation-point-free words, the song "is a story of a friendship of two opposites and how they are in the best band in the world, one embracing things that are, shall we say (and you would almost definitely say) 'twee' (yuck) and the other embracing music that is...not so." OK, cool. Parentheses are the new etc.
A little more surprising were comments out there to the effect that "International Tweexcore Underground" was big-budget, would make Los Campesinos! massive radio stars, was MTV-ready, etc. etc. (etc.) I mean for our purposes the budget probably isn't bad, and the video is polished enough for MTV, but MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SINGING ABOUT. Do they?
What's the meaning of life anything you like.
Shocking Pinks: End of the World (again lazily cross-posted from Pitchfork)
Most people don't know what I'm talking about. Most people don't know what Art Brut are singing about, or Tullycraft, or LCD Soundsystem at least until Jams Murphy started wanting to be with his friends again. Los Campesinos! songs like "You! Me! Dancing!" or Fall Out Boy-sized potential smash "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks" could imaginably, with proper production, hit home for a broader audience that doesn't spend all its time yet STEALING MUSIC OH NOES.
But "International Tweexcore Underground"?
Oh, it's a really good song, precise and well-crafted and kinda funny once we're in on the joke. What I'm wondering, I guess, is whether we're headed for (or have already arrived at) pop music that only works if you're part of a relatively small group of obsessives, either at a mainstream level-- even knowing what's a hit takes more effort now-- or "underground". Tom Breihan has mused before about how niche-oriented pop is now, and I've probably mentioned how I see the Internet as exacerbating all that, each of us seeking out content that reconfirms the importance of our own narrow interests, like the difference between cable and network TV but on a vastly more personalized level. As MTV circles the drain, a big enough cult and whatever major distribution Arts & Crafts presumably enjoys might be enough to give a Pavement-loving band of clean-looking Welsh kids a hit video, who knows, why not, just beat it.
Don't take five (take what you want)
R. Kelly: "Same Girl (Remix)" (ft. T-Pain and Usher)
3 comments:
I don't know if it proves or negates your point that I get all the references in the song lyrics, but I've never heard of this band or their song.
ha, i guess it shows you're part of the intended audience? and that you should pick up their ep.
nah... I think it just means I worked in a record store in the 90s.
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