Sometimes I hate on indie musicians for ‘selling out’. Okay, I do it all the time. But for once, I will show you an exception to my otherwise insane, inconclusive, and downright inconsistent rule: Johnny Marr is working with Ray Ban. Why does that make sense?
Because Ray Ban Wayfarers are as Hipster (circa 2002-2004) as you can get. Ray Bans were all the shit. And Ray Bans, depending on how classy you look, will never disappear. Only look better with age.
Case in point: Dave 1.
Some people say I look JUST like him ;-)
As Spin.com declared:
Johnny Marr is collaborating with SoCal surf-poppers Best Coast, British songwriter/producer Tom Vek, Brooklyn all-girl keyboard trio Au Revoir Simone, and Nashville alt-rockers Mona on an interesting new project called “Ray-Ban Raw Sounds,” which finds the ex-Smiths guitarist presenting the four up-and-coming bands with five different ideas or objects to inspire them to write a song.
What does that fucking mean? It means that Johnny Marr knows how to market himself and his brand, create a profit, work with a corporation, without looking like a fucking sell-out. Other indie bands out there, take note: If you get a bunch of relevant indie bands to join you in a corporate promotion/campaign, I’ll respect you. That’s all it takes.
Oh, and you have to make good* music.
*Good defined as whatever I feel like saying is good at said current time.
