boston

Some music will never get old. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, just timeless riffs, unmatched songwriting, and attitude out the wazoo. Another band to add to that list is Boston. I'm sitting here listening to "Rock & Roll Music," and this is truly classic, great music. Everyone knows "More Than a Feeling" because of the air band on Scrubs or from the first Guitar Hero, but then there's "Foreplay/Long Time," "Peace of Mind," "Amanda," "Don't Look Back," just perfect 70's arena rock that doesn't get the attention it truly deserves.

They don't have the same rock mystique a lot of the other guys have--hell they weren't even really a band, one guy played every instrument--and that mystique is an undeniable part of the appeal of those other guys. The Rolling Stones are the Rolling Stones because of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. (And Brian Jones too, but I never really got the appeal behind him. He played on the first few records, never wrote any of the songs, and got the other guys to experiment with Eastern techniques. But he's still larger-than-life Brian Jones. Oh well.) Appeal is the reason 90% of the people know music at all. Like the fucking Beatles, the band with more appeal than anyone in the history of mankind. I mean how do you compete with the fab four? You just don't. Plus they had Ringo, who is just the funniest looking man ever to sit behind a drum set. In all those Beatles promo pictures, the other three do their tough, macho "I'm a fucking Beatle get over it" face, and Ringo just sits there enjoying life for no real reason. Lennon was once asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, and he responded "he's not even the best drummer in the Beatles," which was probably true, and yet the guy is credited with revolutionizing rock percussion on "Sgt. Pepper's."

You may notice how I'm putting both song titles and album titles in quotations, which is confusing as shit, isn't it? I mean if I wanted to talk about the song "Sgt. Pepper's" on the album "Sgt. Pepper's," it looks like complete shit. But according to the paper here, that's the way the AP does it. That just seems completely fucking stupid. AMG puts albums in italics and tracks in quotes, which works so much better. Take a hint AP. Or atleast the Mountain Echo. Be trendsetters, come on.

But it's not all about appeal. Anti-appeal works just as well sometimes. Daft Punk for instance. French DJ's who perform in full on space-age get-ups, almost never showing their face. They're actually accused of letting other people play their gigs. How perfect would that be? You sit back in your safe studio and perfect your album, that let some poor fucks go out and sweat it out in that cool-as-shit pyramid-stage in those hot-as-balls outfits while the kids dance around with their ecstacy and glow sticks. But what would be the fun in that. They're lazy enough as it is--Homework and Discovery (FUCK YOU ASSOCIATED PRESS) were amazing, revolutionary club albums, and then they phoned it in with Human After All, and followed that bullshit album with a live album, of all things. Suck it up and get on tour you lazy fucks. You don't even move, you just stand there, push buttons, and nod your head.

And then there's a band like Sonic Youth. They made a living off of being ageless art-punks with guitars tuned in every imaginable fashion, while screaming about killing their idols, teenage riots, and all sorts of gloriousness. Their music is straight noise, or atleast about 90% of it is. But it's fucking AMAZING noise. Take "Total Trash," off Daydream Nation. The first four minutes or so, it's a subpar song with a creaky riff stretched and warped to become Sonic Youth's version of a hook. Then, when most bands would bring a song to a close, Thurston and the fucks break that shit down to the point that it really is just noise, to the point that no trace of the original song is left. Guitars start squealing aimlessly, Kim just starts straight up hitting her bass, Steve stops playing whatever remnants of a beat he had going and follows Kim, they all slowly get bored and fade out, and then Thurston goes "oh yeah this was a song" and takes it back to the hook for a few bars. And they got famous off that shit.

And then there's a band like Pavement. Greasy stoners from Stockton, a singer that can't sing, a drummer that lives in his own LSD dream world, and music that has no real purpose whatsoever. And they created the greatest album of all-time, Slanted & Enchanted. I got drunk at a party once and started talking music with this fat senior guy. He knew his stuff pretty well, I was actually impressed (I'm a music snob if you hadn't caught on), but when I mentioned Pavement, he had no idea. I promptly took a shot of SoCo and told him to forget my name, that from now on my name was Pavement, not Matt, PAVEMENT now say it with me man--what's your name again? Ryan? Okay--say it with me man. PAVEMENT. Yeah you got it. Enchanted and slanted. No--FUCK no SLANted and enCHANted--there you go. Yeah i'll finish that bottle pass that shit over. Ur goin to da cafe, fuc--FUCK YEAH I WANNA GO TO THE CAFE lets go man wheres nick nick NCIK oh nick left already alright cool EDWIN FUCKING EDWIN I LOVE YOU MAN alright nah man i got it dont worry im fine RYAN WHAT THE FUCK'S MY NAME--YEAH IT IS alright lets go dude im goin dont worry about it WHERE THE FUCK IS TIM oh es gone too alright thats cool i want chicken and a gatorade CHICKEN TENDERS AND A GATORDAe. yeaj us take me abnck toe mu room thad be grare thanfs mankf

That's actually very similar to what Malkmus' lyrics are like. Like somebody ate a dictionary, threw that shit up, and scooped up a bunch of words and formed sentences. And it's amazing. They don't make stuff like that anymore. It's all bullshit rap "i'm a fucking gangsta look at my bitches in the club" bullshit--enjoy your jailtime Lil' Wayne--or its bullshit Nickelback cookie cutter tame as shit pop rock handmade for the radio. I've always put my faith in indie, but even that is getting stale these days. There are still indie bands that can put out good pop music, which never gets old, mainly those goddamn Brits who fucking breed buzz bands like guitar-toting, heroin-injecting rabbits. (Get well soon Pete--Babyshambles was okay but we need that Libertines reunion to happen.) The Cribs, the pigeon detectives, the maccabees, the libertines and babyshambles...and the cribs. They're the ones to remember. No one puts out purely enjoyable music anymore except them.

Then there are those gothy-Scandinavian-jesus-and-mary-chain-worshipping fucks the Raveonettes. They put out entire albums in a single key, and they make it work. They're one trick fucking ponies, just like the chain, but where heyzeus was obliterating people with feedback, these two completely slow it down and throw enough feedback on there to keep it from being total bullshit. But its the same at its core, just pure pop with pseudo-love lyrics about girls and drugs and getting laid. Which makes you wonder why so many bands put out the same bullshit music when its so fucking easy to avoid it.