Arcade Fire at house party, Montreal 2002
Hipsters don’t get angry for no reason at all. Actually, it takes a lot to get a hipster angry. Because we don’t give a shit. But when we do care you should notice. Mainly because we are right.
Our anger isn’t manifested out of thin air, like Liberace. We are angry because we have expectations for our bands. No one expects Beach House to come out with an exciting, dancey album. No one expects TV on the Radio to become the next 21 year old slutty pop star. When a band makes it fairly big, their audience expects them to continue along the same brand path. It’s how consistency fucking works.
But when, for example (no names), a band known for rocking hard in 2001 comes out with a shitty fourth album, people are going to be pissed. Okay. The band was The Strokes. And they suck.
Is their music terrible? Nope. But under the name Strokes there is an expectation of ‘Last Nite’ amazingness. When you don’t bring it, your fans will tell you to ‘fuck off’.
Another reasons hipsters get angry at bands is because of the climate when their favorite band becomes famous. Take Arcade Fire for example. Their first album was gold. Their second wasn’t bad. Suburbs? Drags on and on and on until you want to off yourself, alone in your parents basement in the suburbs, wishing you weren’t hanging out with your old highschool friends.
It is the same with The Black Keys. As a huge Black Keys fan, I am rarely one to complain about the music they produce (surprising!). And you know what, Brothers was a pretty decent album. But was it anywhere near their best? Of course not. Half the album sounded like drugged elephants fucking eachother. And I’m not into that.
Do I now hate The Black Keys because they are sell outs? Of course. It is expected. But do I hate them more because the general music-listening world started listening to them at one of their weakest, least interesting musical moment? Yes, I do. It makes me angry to know that many people will only know about Brothers, and not something magical like The Big Come Up, The Rubber Factory (pun intended), or Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough. For a hardcore fan this shit burns, like non-tear-free-baby-shampoo in the eyes.
And it makes me look like a bitch. But I’d rather be a bitch then a bandwagon mainstreamer. A happy, loved bandwagon mainstreamer.
IronyOnRye
04/16/2011
I love how we’ve been bashing the Strokes for the entire existence of this blog
#feelsgoodman
Dobes
05/05/2011
Regression to the Mean:
Let’s assume that the ‘goodness’ of an indie band’s first album is 80% based on skill, and 20% based on dumb luck. A potentially strong band that gets unlucky will produce an album that’s only 60% good, so it will never get noticed and they won’t get famous. A similar, equally strong indie band might instead get extremely lucky, and produce a 100% good album that gets them some notoriety among hipsters. Then, when they have neither good nor bad luck on their second album, it is only 80% good, some people will think that the band somehow got worse and will try to explain it that way. If they then produce a third album, and get extremely unlucky and produce a 60% good album, their original fan base will think that they somehow betrayed their earlier good qualities. The band’s inherent quality NEVER FUCKING CHANGED. Learn to statistics, people.
This is why major labels only promote artists with a proven track record, and don’t bother hunting for the most obscure, single album indie band. It might be a good album, but it could never be replicated, even with the same artists and the same attitude.
The Duckman
05/05/2011
The Walkmen. Solid shit. Every album.