I've been privately admonished to share thoughts only if they're really worth it. And it just so happens I've got two worthwhile thoughts swimmin' round.


Number one is: why do people refer to Marnie Stern as a "virtuoso"? She's not a virtuoso. She finger-taps about as well as four out of ten high school kids. She's cool, but what's with the comically exaggerated superlatives? People almost seem to think that she's paired with Zach Hill because they're musical or technical peers of some kind. That is MAD STUPID DOGGS. I know she's a girl. Stop buggin'

Um way more exciting - hello, today's featured review from America's most relevant, incisive and consistently correct source of music journalism?

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

Fucked Up is iller than laser piss. I knew they were on Hidden World BUT it was like....it was one of those things where a band is so staggeringly good on one particular album and it wakes you up to shit....then going back and listening to lesser albums you can hear how they weren't as coherent or fully-realized but the glimpses of gawd were there. Fucked Up is it, man. I'm downloading that album now

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BlackGravel,

I'm with you on Marnie Stern. I don't care what a person's sex is, talking them up like they're amazing based on the fact that they're female (what else would it be based on? Her using the same contrived mathy style?) is pretty ridiculous.

And The Chemistry of Common Life is often-times bordering on too melodic/poppy for me.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackGravel:
I've been privately admonished to share thoughts only if they're really worth it.

That's not quite what I said. I said don't start a new thread on a topic that already exists. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can actually "reply" to topics that someone else has created. In fact, people will still read your posts and even reply to you. You can share your thoughts on whatever crazy thing you like, and I even encourage you to do so.

Contrary to popular belief, we're not trying to be assholes when we shut down threads on topics that already exist, it just makes it really hard for people to find and participate in discussions when you have 5 or 10 or 20 of them on the same topic.

The whole point of having these forums organized into threads and categories is make it easy for people to find the stuff they want to talk about.

Yeah I was just writing in anticipation before Glass. I haven't even really listened to the record yet. I was just that excited. And you describing it that way makes it sound even better

On one clarification, does anyone hear actually like Marnie Stern? I personally love her new LP, and it's much better than the first. I do understand the frustration with the whole "girl on guitar" thing. I wonder what people were saying when some chick way back when would rip some power chords up.

Jglass:

"I don't know, some of this album is a little too good for my taste. It's just like...it's too well-made. I just don't like that giddy, exhilarated feeling, you know? Some parts of this Fucked Up record just have this like, confidence and power that rubs me the wrong way. I don't like feeling this awesome when I put a band's music on, and I think it's the wrong direction for the band to go in. I kept waiting for a misplaced chord change, a meaningless melody, a contrived emotion, a pointless blast of ugly noise...nothing. Sigh."

Hmm. Unnecessary.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackGravel:
Jglass:

"I don't know, some of this album is a little too good for my taste. It's just like...it's too well-made. I just don't like that giddy, exhilarated feeling, you know? Some parts of this Fucked Up record just have this like, confidence and power that rubs me the wrong way. I don't like feeling this awesome when I put a band's music on, and I think it's the wrong direction for the band to go in. I kept waiting for a misplaced chord change, a meaningless melody, a contrived emotion, a pointless blast of ugly noise...nothing. Sigh."

Actually, I was thinking "how many pointless noises can they pile on top of each other? And when is this going to be you know.. hardcore?" There's a reason why ever punk kid I know has hated Fucked Up since.. well, their debut (I'm not that hip.. I hadn't heard of them til I randomly grabbed the album off of #it). The reason is this:

they have no edge.

They have wayyy too many "meaningless melodies".

Um. Glass ftw.

Jglass 1
Gravel 0

I thought only rappers had people "on their dick" but I guess I was at least partially wrong.

LK and GG, are you familiar with the fact that you've just identified yourself with the single most pathetic internet demographic there is?

"lol someone is arguing with some1 i dont like...lol hold on brb...*enters thread like a ninja lol*....LOL guy i dont like ur so dumb i cant believe that person u argued with was so right...u were SO wrong lol ya get 'em guy...and u maybe u should give up...on life...lol"


I guess Glass took the win by talking down one of the best albums any of us has heard in a looooooooooooooong time? I don't really understand how that works, but ok.

There are zero pointless sounds and zero pointless melodies on this album. All of it is densely and tightly woven, purposeful and exacting. There's no denying that there's a pile of instrumentation, ornamentation and flagellation on Chemistry. And what does it add up to?

Some of the most forceful, melodic, economical bass playing of recent memory. From a girl! (90% sure that's a girl). She's got the kinds of lines that both amplify, compliment and stand on their own.

A guitar sound that is so fucking brilliant I'm about to die. It's like floating ashes. Or something. The tone, the technique - this dude, "10,000 Marbles" (how I hate that member handle horseshit...but then again maybe I don't anymore) is bringing power chords to the people in the new millenium better than anybody besides Hutch Harris. The sound is heroic, subtle, bracing. It's pretty much perfect.

Harmonies and instrumentation that NEVER exist to exist. Every other shitty band puts a bunch of irrelevant shit on their records to appear interesting when they are not. This is the opposite case. They wouldn't have brought in a flute unless they NEEDED a fucking flute.

I usually hate that growly voice shit. But in Pink Eyes, I'm gonna go ahead and say we've got the most personality, humor, menace, attack, feeling, anything in one of these guys (I know some of you are long time fans of bad music that utilizes the throaty growling. Please don't share with me how wrong you are about some asshole like Lemmy Kilmister being cooler or better because he is old.)


And yes, JGlass, I'm aware that some "punk kids" are very, very stupid. I know that they don't like when someone who is marginally a part of their scene makes a record that people could actually like. It's the same reason "noise" kids hate Future of the Left and other bands that make real songs.

"When is this going to be hardcore"? What are you TALKING ABOUT? You want to maybe explain to me when something becomes "hardcore"? When drums stop keeping time and instead turn spastic and clusterfuck and guitars tunelessly tumble over one another and some asshole growls about aggression and/or politics? Get the fuck out of here. What are you, the bad music police? We know it sounds good, Glass. That's actually alright, believe it or not. Way to attempt kicking anyone who tries to climb out of tired, trite, played-out genre cliches back in the hole.

You realize you basically just derided the band for not conforming to the sound expected of a band like them...right? Because you uh...did. I know you won't like that, but maybe you should think about the implications before you respond with "NO I DIDN'T! u did...they just suck...cuuuuuuuzzzzzzzz pointless melodiez?"

Again, there are zero pointless melodies. They all offer release and catharsis, heighten the tension, provide respite from the surrounding violence, or otherwise function to activate pleasure centers, increase the worth and value of the song and make the music worth the listener's time. Concepts you seem to have nothing but contempt for.

This IS hardcore, son. 101m@0 The fact that you could think it isn't BECAUSE it's also tuneful and expansive and ambitious and open-minded is fucking sad. Real talk. "They have no edge"? How am I supposed to respond to a comment that blatantly baseless and ignorant? You can't just make things up. You've got to at least try to be somewhat correct about something, it makes responding to you really frustrating. Fucked up has an edge you should be scared to wander within a mile of. It will probably cut you. Real talk.

Beyond that, maybe you should uh like listen to the album or something. I could be way off-base though.

Oh and grabblegarr with "hmmm unnecessary" as if with my completely fucking harmless comment I was crossing a line and you were pointing it out just in case, keeping tabs on me for the mods who want an excuse to ban me. Stop. Being. So. Pitiful. Stop being so transparent. If you don't like me, at least be a little more honest and intelligent when you have a go. Although, to be fair, I have no idea how old any of you are. You could be fourteen, and if that's the case I apologize/understand.

Eh. It is terribly easy to pick on you, as you truly make an art out of making yourself look like an idiot. You tried to be funny and clever by putting words in JGlass' mouth and were wrong. So, I said that. I was just fucking around. But this is very serious business I know.

His opinions on the album may be different from yours, but that doesn't make either of your's right or wrong, as you seem to believe. I don't even agree with him.

I like a lot of the album, but I don't think it's incredible or anything, just pretty damn solid. If you would like to explain my reasoning behind this, be my guest.

And to respond, of course I don't like you. But that really doesn't matter, you were just trying to be a clever little dick and it showed. It was certainly harmless, I just don't see why you would feel the need to say it, hence my comment.

I wasn't nearly putting words in his mouth. That is a very misappropriated cliche GG. The words were what he should have been saying. In a more perfect and honest world, maybe he even would have. But I never suggested that in this one he had said them, or would say them. That's what that expression means. Don't get it twisted.

Also I don't know if it's strictly "easy" to pick on me. I mean, you can talk whatever and whomever down that you want. The internet is full of people who could shrug off the most decisive, humiliating defeats. Hell, they mostly think they're right afterward anyway. I do put out plenty of material to attempt to pick apart when I do, but I wouldn't call picking on me "easy" since most of the people who do end up looking pretty silly. I don't know if I necessarily look like an "idiot" most of the time either. In fact I'd wager that I come off a little sharper and better-informed than most of the people who attempt to cut me on down to size.

I don't think all this is strictly relevant to the discussion though, huh? Back to the music.

Semantics, but whatever.

I didn't really like the album when I first heard it, but, to use another cliche, it's growing on me. No Epiphany and Son the Father are awesome though. It's too bad I didn't get a chance to see them when they came here because it probably would have been a hell of a show.

On the other topic of this twofer.... I like Marnie Stern. I realize she's not the "virtuoso" or "guitar-goddess" I've seen slapped on her in every review or article, but i dig what she's doing. It sort of reminds me of Sleater-Kinney by way of Lightning Bolt. Except i like Brian Chippendale better on drums than Zach Hill [gasp, did someone just insinuate that they don't like Zach Hill's drumming?]. I think Marnie writes some interesting songs regardless of how good or bad she is at guitar. I think people miscontrue "fast" with "technical" and equate that with "virtuoso." She can finger-tap almost exclusively and come up with nice tunes nonetheless.

And on the other topic... Fucked Up is pretty damn solid in my opinion. They're just what this scene needs in my opinion, and that is someone pissed off and interesting at the same time. With that, though, I think they might be too "experimental" for the hardcore scene, and too rough for the indie scene, so they kind of sit in a dead zone where both crowds can shrug and say, "I don't like this."

That said, i can totally understand not liking it because, well, people have their own tastes, and maybe a hardcore song with 70 tracks on it seems a little overkill, or a hardcore tune with flutes seems a little ridiculous (I tend to think it's a pointless intro, but the song is great anyway).

Basically, they seem like Black Flag circa "My War" but with tons of bells and whistles [bells and whistles that more often than not work well] and layers. It's a guitar-centric album for sure.