Powerman 5000- Builders of the Future

In a way, you have to pity Spider One, Michael Cummings.  His brother is definitely a genius. Michael is slightly more questionable as a genius, but his reach is further- Rock star, TV director, recording mogul, TV Host, graphic design- he's ambitious. But, he hasn't had half the success of his brother, Rob. On top of that, what he does do is easily misunderstood. He's not meaning to be a science fiction equivalent of his brother's horror theme. He means to be grounded in the here and now, and his over-arching metaphor is more about pop culture than imagined outcomes- if it reads as science fiction, it's because his actual targets are obsessed with science fiction metaphors- he's talking about the Americans trying to be Otaku . The music is meant to be a hybrid between EDM and Hard Rock, but can come across as Nu Metal Rap Rock because of his vocal style.
These problems are mostly of his own design, so  I don't pity him. Instead, I look at it as an interesting proposal- he would be a social critic and rebel, instead he acts as a voice in a mob. He's got a brain, and he's creative, but, as his career has advanced he's had to modify his vision to maintain an audience. You dance with the Devil-Bros and sooner or later, they'll call the tune. His problem boils down to appealing to the wrong crowd.
So, those are a lot of caveats- but I still find enjoyment in this. It's football chants and frat boy songs, with a slightly subversive undercurrent. It's like the movie Fight Club- not a single idea was new, and virtually everything was dumbed down- but it made the intellectual and philosophical points more fun, and more palatable for the lumpen proles. So, much like Powerman 5000, it rightfully is a favorite with those who should know better.
There's no point in analyzing the songs- like I said, they're football chants- but some work better than others- I like "Invade Destroy Repeat" "How to be Human" and "I can't F***ing Hear You" but that's probably just me.

7 Seconds- Leave a Light On

I have long maintained that hardcore punk rock is essentially an exercise in formalism. I don't usually phrase it that way, but the thought is there- the tag "hardcore" implies a rigid adherence to something, right? As you might recall, part of the appeal of punk rock, in general, is in a deconstruction of pop song formats- the idea that anybody can play three chords. Now, the absolute best of hardcore defied that expectation, to be sure, bands like Articles of Faith, Die Kreuzen, and The Refused would be hard to pin down to any formula, but there is an exemplary in "playing to the rules", and I can think of none finer than 7 Seconds. Even when they tried to experiment, they experimented by playing yet more pop rock. This might seem like some kind of ironic slam on them, but I assure you, this is sincere praise. From Youth Brigade to Bullet Treatment, super tightly structured hardcore punk rock is one of my favorite things in life. It even informs my tastes in more "avant" musical genres- for example, I can't stand Noise rock that doesn't have precise structure at its core- I'm not a big fan of free form improvisation, nor do I like "ambient" music types- I do believe that music should at least partially be about imposing will, intellect and yes, structure over expression.
So, bringing it back to 7 Seconds, a difficulty in imposing strict formalism to relatively simple formats, like pop music ( or Punk rock, if you are offended by the term "pop") is that the discipline required to keep coming up with variations that sound fresh goes up exponentially upon each completed song.How do you keep from turning into a joke I heard about Kiss, then AC/DC then the Ramones ; "One great riff, seven great Albums"? I really think this degree of difficulty killed off many truly great bands- how often do you hear bands say "Well, we felt we'd said all we had to say"? What  I hear in that statement is "We just ran out of ways to approach the problem of sticking to our self-imposed format"- and there's no shame in that. But, here's the phenomena of 7 Seconds- they're still going, sticking to that 120 BPM, guitar, drum, bass, voice, big chorus, short fast song format, and still coming up with new wrinkles. That degree of discipline, and creativity needs to celebrated. I cannot think of anyone else who proves so consistently the sturdiness of the Punk Rock Formula. On top of that, they add the additional rigor of keeping a positive lyrical stance- no blues allowed. Every song on here is honest, open, positive, and affirming.  If you don't see the achievement in this, I would challenge you to re-examine your criteria. I know I couldn't do it. No way!  I would have repeated myself, or gone cynical and bitter, or gone off the formula a long, long time ago. On top of that, I don't think Kevin has ever been in better voice. Seriously, even Peter Murphy is starting to lose his voice, but Kevin has an even purer, more sweet tenor going that when 7 Seconds started. Yes, they have slowed on a few tracks, but I don't count anything on here as below 120 BPM, which still places all these songs as "fast" in my book. Again, for guys in their 50's, that's incredible. I mean, Kevin and I bonded a few years back over mutual gallbladder problems- think about that- what could be more middle aged than that- yet, here 7 Seconds are, fresh as ever, playing loud, fast hardcore, like the 1990's and 2000's haven't come and gone- "Young until I Die" wasn't an idle boast. So, am I somehow ashamed, or ironic, or apologetic about still loving Hardcore Punk Rock, as played by 7 Seconds? Absolutely not. I'm here to tell you not to sleep on this, because we will not likely see their ilk again. I'm telling you, these guys should have a monument....

Peter Murphy Lion

Well, apart from drug busts, and nostalgia trips, what exactly is our man Peter Murphy good for, these days?
Well, for one, I use his name for comedy routines- I substitute "Peter Murphy" for "Charlie Murphy" and "Nick Cave" for "Rick James" to do riffs based upon Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood stories. But, that's not to say that I have no respect for him as an Artist, I just think his image is a bit too puffed up and melodramatic. So, believe it or not, his new LP is a fairly potent set of synth-infused post punk more in line with Killing Joke, than his somewhat fey mid 1990's solo work. The opening single, Hang Up, is minus only Geordie's apocalyptic guitar for being some kind of out-take from Killing Joke's Pandaemonium LP. Then, again, that makes sense, as Youth produced it. Yes, Murphy's voice has aged away from his baritone croon, but, much like Jaz, the weathering helps to convey passion. From there Tracks like "Eliza" and "I am my own Name" rock out in a Bowie-esque fashion, with tastes of fiery goth ( Sisters of Mercy style, with hints of industrial noise) and spooky experimentations  (ghosts of the Walker Brothers and Roxy Music) float through more than one moment on the LP, as on "Loctaine",  "Compression"  and "The Ghost of Shokan Lake" . How's this- "Low Tar Stars" is a thumping EDM-esque song that wouldn't have been out of place on Bowie's "Earthling". Only "Rose" and "Lion" really give in to sub Bowie histrionics. For Peter Murphy, that's not bad. So, yes, it's actually a fairly vital LP.

So, I saw "The Punk Singer"

I am just fine with being the bad guy. I have dealt with that for forever, so don't think I'm saying this for effect, but I don't really care for Bikini Kill. I think Kathleen Hanna has flashes of brilliance, but mostly her ignorance, and ego get in the way of her actually being brilliant.  So, why I am watching a movie about her? Well, mostly for ancillary reasons- I like people who like her, and I dig a bunch of the aesthetics that people around her use. Is there a small amount of hate-watching? I suppose, but it's more a wish- I wish she'd confront herself, the way she confronts everything around her. I know so many people like her, and that's my frustration with them as well.  I wish I could say that this movie fully does that- and the last third goes a long way towards that. It's something most of us learn much earlier on- that we can be wrong, that we can lie to ourselves, that our certainty can be misplaced. That she allowed the cameras to roll was brave, and probably more honest than she ever was in her bands. But, then, it all gets taken away- she goes off on a rant about how her truth gets taken away because she's a woman. So, we're right back to her selling that most American of commodities: Confidence. I wonder if she'll ever understand that she never had an idea that wasn't expressed better by someone else before her? Yeah, I know, but it's true- 90% of her thing was done by Alice Bag, and the other 10% by the Slits.. Before you say I'm sexist- consider that I said that all the way back in 1996, alongside the remark that Fugazi had done nothing that Gang of Four, the Pop Group, The Clash, and Killing Joke hadn't done already. But, see, ever since Ronald Reagan, that's what Americans seem to do, intellectually, and politically- recycle ideas, but dress them up in a bit more flash, and a whole lot more confidence. It sometimes frustrates me so much that I want to tell people " shut up and look pretty, because that's what you're best at". Of course, I respect folks more than that might imply, and there are people out there who trade in better ideas, and more realized Art, but I get so frustrated when an Ian Mackaye gets the kudos that really belong to Andy Gill, or Kathleen Hanna gets the praise that belongs to Alice Bag, or people tell me how Bad Religion invented pop punk, or  how "revolutionary" Wilco was- when so much of this stuff is just recycled, with a layer of pretty shine.
So, is it a good documentary? Nope, it's a puff piece, that's little better than a People magazine article. Is it worth seeing? Maybe, if you turn the sound off, because most of these folks have great style- they all look totally cool- but if you really listen to what they have to say, you'll feel more stupid on the other end of it, for having listened.

A small rant and some random observations

So, I like music. Heck, for about a third of my working life, I made music my main source of income. That's about as good as your average Rock star, so I feel pretty solid on this. My problem is with the state of music journalism, and what it says about music fans: while I agree that there's been a shift from music criticism to lifestyle reporting, I fear there's been a yet bigger change. I have been looking through music mags, and noticed it's increasingly rare to find photos of actual musical instruments. Heck, you don't even see microphones, unless you're talking about game shows. Then, you read the interviews and it's like they're talking to marketers: you'll see discussions of the business of touring, and how their love life is going, and their houses, as well as really vague talk of "direction" or "connections"- but there's no actual talk about what they do, except for talk about the lyrics. The only exception to this are in dedicated instrument magazines, like "Premiere Guitar" or " Keyboard Magazine". Now, add to this that the business of touring to play live music has changed. It's all about festivals, now- and I don't blame the bands, but when you're playing 10 gigs a year, instead of 50, and each of those 10 gigs is on a bill of 20-50 bands, to 75000 supposed fans, I really question how much of it is about bonding with an audience over the power of melody and beat, versus simple mob mechanics. Again, I understand, the bands have got financial needs, so I don't blame them for wanting more than beer money for their living, but I really start to wonder how much is about music, when you're playing so very little, with so much technology in between you and the audience. But, how can you deny 50,000 bucks over against 500 bucks? Yes, that really is the difference.  So, one last time, I don't blame a band, like say, The Arctic Monkeys, for only doing festivals, and signing agreements to not do club gigs- but then, how can I view them as the same occupation as the guys in say, Torche, where they're not doing photo shoots, they're playing endless gigs? It is all connected- if they play music about 30 days out of the year, and do interviews that are much more about what it's like to be a celebrity, and you see so few photos of them with instruments that it's hard to tell who plays what- how exactly am I to call them musicians? How can I be a fan,  except in the most general sense? So, my suggestion is this- we acknowledge the truth- on that level- it's not music, it's show business.
So, on to other topics-
Books- I've been reading a couple of books- "Left of the Dial"-by David Ensminger. I don't know how fair it is for me to talk about it- When David ran his magazine of the same name, I worked with him on it. Some of the interviews in this book arose from that work. I do not want to claim credit for what David has done, but I'm still too close to the work to review it. Also, I've been reading "Electrified" by Robert Shaw which is a collection about new, innovative luthiers . I find it inspiring but that's a subject best left to my other blog.
TV- I've been at the mercy of my wife's tastes, so I've seen all of The Mindy Project and I've seen about 5 episodes of Orphan Black. But, I have been watching Legit, Fargo,  Mad Men  and @Midnight as well. They're all really good.
As for music, unfortunately, I wasted too much time trying to find something reasonable in the new Black Keys, and failing. So, I went back to some favorites- The Dream Syndicate and Thin White Rope. So, nothing to report there.

Ok Jack White is allowed to live, now.

 He helped fund this into being. If you don't know what Amphetamine Reptile means, you are reading the wrong blog. Seriously, how'd you get this lost? Here's how lost you are- I literally wouldn't like music, if not for AMREP in the late 1980's.

Read it, read it now

Why read my blog? Read this, instead. Extremely, precisely on point.

Brody Dalle Diploid Love

I've not always been a fan of Brody. I thought the Distillers sucked, just flat out sucked. Spinnerette had some moments, but this is probably her finest hour. That it suffers from some caveats probably speaks to some reasons why I'll never fly the flag for her, but still, this is a good album. I just wish it was better.
See, she sounds too much like Courtney Love, which evokes a deep primal hatred in me. Seriously,I no joke hate Courtney, or Michelle, or whatever fake ass name she goes by as a stand in for her phony life. Yeah, I loathe her, so I hear a vocal simularity, and my hackles go up. I hear a riff copped from her, and I skip to the next song. This is Brody at her least Courtney-ish.
She has discovered what I'll call the ZZ Top lesson: when your rocknroll muse is dying, you can hook it up to a couple of synths for life support, just like ZZ Top did on "Eliminator". It's too bad that she had to drag the drums into that, though. But, that was Bob Mould's mistake, as well ( the reason why people had a hard time with some of his more electronic compositions was partially due to a pretty bad drum sound.) so I'm not writing her off.
So, with some caveats out there, let's talk about what I really like:
Track two- Underworld is a nice piece of New Wave post punk, that starts with a nice little snarling riff, but slowly gets taken over by mariachi horns- it sounds like Rocket From the Crypt meets the Bronx, so yes, I like that. . Track Three - Don't Mess With Me is nice little rock tune, with some Joan Jett as Gary Glitter glam swagger, that gets a giant QOTSA-ish chorus. Hard to argue with that, eh?
Track Six- Meet the Foetus/ Oh the Joy- though is what brought me to the party, though- a perfect dance punk piece of melancholic electro pop. Yes, it sounds like Garbage, and having Shirley Manson ups things enormously. The drums are a bit lame, but for this kinda thing, I think they're supposed to suck. All is forgiven with the bubblegum punk coda Oh the Joy, which can never overstay its Pixie-ish welcome.
Finally, track Eight- Blood in the Gutters is the only one of the many ballads that works on me, but probably because it is so filled with squelch, and flutter like a warped vinyl record, but it resolves into another giant sweeping chorus that sounds like a post punk beach boys gone Joy Division.
Oh, and the title? I suspect some strange feminist/Earth Mother answer is forthcoming, but I remember enough biology that it strikes me as a baby reference- Haploids are sex cells, diploids are animal cells- so when two haploids create a diploid, you've got a baby, geddit?

Good News for me

So, I've got an Amazon Prime membership. I dig several of HBO's series' so yes, good news for me. I think the industry, however is not done mutating. Will it be good for all of us as consumers? I don't know, but consolidation rarely is.I suspect it will be a situation where only the names of the people ripping you off have changed. Still, I gotta be happy about the short term....

Dammit, Tommy

So, I've not been a huge fan of Prong, MK II. I was a big fan when it seemed like Prong was going to be an American equivalent to Killing Joke and Godflesh, but now? Tommy, dude, you've been hanging out with Al too much, man. This thing might have some good songs, hell, I can hear some good riffs in there, but that production? Pro-tooled and V shaped  amateur Metal garbage. Several tracks where all I can hear is kick drums, splashes, and fretboard buzz- I honestly cannot make out any mid range at all. That, whether you're a Metalhead or not, just sounds awful. It's really a bummer, because I so wanted Prong to come back, and roar. Instead, I get this? Very frustrating. I don't like posting negative reviews, and I know virtually no one will care, and that just sucks, because there was such potential there....