There’s a fairly lengthy article about Silver Lake in the LA Weekly this week. The writer can’t seem to help himself, and gets really condescending at times. We get it; you’ve seen it all before. Plus it’s set in the distant past…so much has happened since August. Did it really take four months to put that article together?
Sorry folks. They’re not all winners. I took my own advice and went to Spaceland last night for the Annuals/Jim Noir/Tralala show. Let me start by saying that I still had a really good time at the show. When I arrived there was a nice line around the corner, because the Annuals were going on first. How’d people know? I assumed they’d go on later. Anyway, as I watched them I experienced the same feeling I got when I listened to the record. I got a little into it, then thought it was pretty average and then I just got sick of it. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a jaded music fan (I’ve seen it all before). I’ve seen thousands of bands live and owned thousands of records (I’ve seen it all before). I’ve probably heard at least 200-300 records that came out this year alone (I’ve seen it all before). Anyway, they’re just young kids who seem to be weaned on equal parts emo, Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. I don’t want to discount them completely, but for a jaded music fan there’s just not a whole lot there. And the newest indie rock cliché is for multiple members of the band to grab drumsticks and play percussion to the last song. The Arcade Fire might be the ones to blame for this one, but in the past few months I’ve seen many bands do it (the Little Ones, Birdmonster and Annuals come to mind, but I’m sure there have been more). Jim Noir was next. The downstairs was still packed with a smattering of record collector types towards the front. He takes the stage and….has absolutely no stage presence. He strikes me as an introverted guy that writes nice songs, but is probably scared to be in the public eye. He finally warmed up a little for the last few songs, but it was a little too little too late. Last up was Tralala. I knew very little about them with the exception of what I’d read in the Other Music update. By the time they came on, most of the crowd had vacated. And? They were OK. They’re a male band with three female singers who don’t play instruments. The women kind of stood around and looked awkwardly at each other. You could probably form your own version of Tralala. First, buy that Phil Spector box set, then hire a drummer, guitarist and bass player and finally go down to the Cha Cha or Little Joy and recruit three hip girls without any real singing experience. I’m sure if I knew the three girls I’d like the band and go see them when they played. But as a touring band on a night when there are a bunch of other options, I wouldn’t pay to see them again.
Tonight's Pick:
Sorry folks. They’re not all winners. I took my own advice and went to Spaceland last night for the Annuals/Jim Noir/Tralala show. Let me start by saying that I still had a really good time at the show. When I arrived there was a nice line around the corner, because the Annuals were going on first. How’d people know? I assumed they’d go on later. Anyway, as I watched them I experienced the same feeling I got when I listened to the record. I got a little into it, then thought it was pretty average and then I just got sick of it. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a jaded music fan (I’ve seen it all before). I’ve seen thousands of bands live and owned thousands of records (I’ve seen it all before). I’ve probably heard at least 200-300 records that came out this year alone (I’ve seen it all before). Anyway, they’re just young kids who seem to be weaned on equal parts emo, Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. I don’t want to discount them completely, but for a jaded music fan there’s just not a whole lot there. And the newest indie rock cliché is for multiple members of the band to grab drumsticks and play percussion to the last song. The Arcade Fire might be the ones to blame for this one, but in the past few months I’ve seen many bands do it (the Little Ones, Birdmonster and Annuals come to mind, but I’m sure there have been more). Jim Noir was next. The downstairs was still packed with a smattering of record collector types towards the front. He takes the stage and….has absolutely no stage presence. He strikes me as an introverted guy that writes nice songs, but is probably scared to be in the public eye. He finally warmed up a little for the last few songs, but it was a little too little too late. Last up was Tralala. I knew very little about them with the exception of what I’d read in the Other Music update. By the time they came on, most of the crowd had vacated. And? They were OK. They’re a male band with three female singers who don’t play instruments. The women kind of stood around and looked awkwardly at each other. You could probably form your own version of Tralala. First, buy that Phil Spector box set, then hire a drummer, guitarist and bass player and finally go down to the Cha Cha or Little Joy and recruit three hip girls without any real singing experience. I’m sure if I knew the three girls I’d like the band and go see them when they played. But as a touring band on a night when there are a bunch of other options, I wouldn’t pay to see them again.
Tonight's Pick:
The Faint / Ladytron / Ratatat @ Hollywood Palladium (Sold Out) – This show should appeal to the post-whatever, dancey-indie crowd. As such, one of the local tastemakers in that scene, Steve Aoki will be DJ’ing. I haven’t been there in a while; does the Palladium still have the worst sound in town? The Faint were a little ahead of the curve on that scene and they’re from Nebraska. Ladytron makes yet another local appearance. They’ve been hear a lot lately. Ratatat are the newcomers.
Also Appearing:
Lily Allen @ Avalon (Sold Out) - In the past I said that she's overrated. But my lady put her in the proper context when she said the Lily Allen record reminded her of Sporty Spice's first solo record.
Amy Millan (of Stars) @ Troubadour ($14) – Indie fans. She’s part of that Arts & Crafts scene from Canada (Broken Social Scene’s label).
Brant Bjork @ Safari Sam's ($12) - Rock 'n' Roll fans. He was in Kyuss and Fu Manchu.
Very Be Careful / Restaurant @ Pershing Square – 532 South Olive Street (Free) – Do some ice skating.
Very Be Careful / Restaurant @ Pershing Square – 532 South Olive Street (Free) – Do some ice skating.
5 comments:
I couldn't have said it better myself...nice work...
i went for them last night too and was equally unimpressed. they seemed pretty immature (musically, not personally), and the emo element was off-putting. some of those songs were really bad.
dumb, dumb, dumb. jaded yes, and also unable to recognize overwhelmingly talented kids. they looked a little tired at spaceland but it was enjoyable. everyone but you liked it- i guess thats your entire point though.
i thought they were great. the indie cool thing to do though is say...."very unimpressed" so i guess i'm musically dumb.....cep i'm not
hthanks for the comments. my intention wasn't to accuse anybody of being "dumb" for liking music that i personally didn't respond to. what did you guys like about it? the songwriting? the performances? the energy? you thought the singer was hot? all are perfectly valid reasons to like popular music.
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