Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Let the Idiot Speak
Slate.com, you never fail to amaze me. I have to say, comparing Wilco to Hootie is just goddamn ignorant.
Lord knows how many frat parties I've been to where they've blasted "Ashes of American Flags." And really, is this the only guy who's ever heard the Minutemen? Tell me about this "punk rock" you are so fond of. It sounds exciting. You think there's some Venn Diagram out there, hidden from the world by a shadowy cult like the one sworn to defend the Holy Grail (if I'm to believe Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and I do), maybe in the deepest corners of the Pitchfork building, that shows an overlap between Minuteman and Wilco fans? Such a thing could not exist. And if it does, then God help us all.
I'm not going to make a case for Wilco being the best band ever. They're my current favorite, and they excite the hell out of me. Whether or not Jeff Tweedy leans on others for musical help, does not diminish the fact that he's a great songwriter. It's not Jeff Tweedy and the Wilco All-Stars. It's a band. Other people contribute to a band. But to say say that they're just average is missing the point. Like them, don't like them; just don't put together some sham article decrying their abilities. And then go back to listening to the Strokes.
I shouldn't get worked up. This is the same site that has an article called "What, Exactly, is Crunk?" for all you cultural anthropologists out there so interested in what those minorities are up to these days. Keeps them off the streets, right?
To a listener accustomed to Hootie and the Blowfish, Wilco sounds like the Minutemen—daring, allusive, funky, weird, and yet so right. To a listener accustomed to the Minutemen, Wilco sounds like Hootie and the Blowfish: classic rock for frat boys.
Lord knows how many frat parties I've been to where they've blasted "Ashes of American Flags." And really, is this the only guy who's ever heard the Minutemen? Tell me about this "punk rock" you are so fond of. It sounds exciting. You think there's some Venn Diagram out there, hidden from the world by a shadowy cult like the one sworn to defend the Holy Grail (if I'm to believe Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and I do), maybe in the deepest corners of the Pitchfork building, that shows an overlap between Minuteman and Wilco fans? Such a thing could not exist. And if it does, then God help us all.
I'm not going to make a case for Wilco being the best band ever. They're my current favorite, and they excite the hell out of me. Whether or not Jeff Tweedy leans on others for musical help, does not diminish the fact that he's a great songwriter. It's not Jeff Tweedy and the Wilco All-Stars. It's a band. Other people contribute to a band. But to say say that they're just average is missing the point. Like them, don't like them; just don't put together some sham article decrying their abilities. And then go back to listening to the Strokes.
I shouldn't get worked up. This is the same site that has an article called "What, Exactly, is Crunk?" for all you cultural anthropologists out there so interested in what those minorities are up to these days. Keeps them off the streets, right?
