Forgive my cynicism but sometimes I listen to modern 'Independen't bands and sispect they are almost pre-packaged with a certain target audience and market position in mind. A lifestyle and position in life that they're after..Where everything has a wry expression on its face and a sly knowing grin Quirky Indie is particularly prone to this attitude it seems,.
This instinct kicked off early in Rock & Roll. In fact it's always been a factor. Listen to Hank Williams or Johnny Cash. The Velvet Undeground's After Hours. They can be very wry and knowing. Sixties, Seventies and Eighties.alternative culture started out as a more organic reponse to life and seemed genuinely political and radical.
Jonathan Richman. Television. Subway Sect. Orange Juice. R.E,M. They all used humour to good effect. Pavement were a pivotal band to my mind. They made things Post Modern in some respects. A set of individuals that didn't have to form a Rock & Roll band. Could have been just as happy with a job behind a desk in middle managament . So long as the package involved an occasional skiing holiday or trip to Hawaii was thrown in. The world got smaller as The Internet Age dawned.
Now thirty years on quirky Indie is everywhere. We're all hyperaware. All ironic. But slightly detached. Take The Bug Club. The new Half Man Half Biscuit except with less strings to their bow. They tick boxes. Select their own audience, The constituency who go to small Indie clubs and pubs to see three guitar bands on a Friday night. The Bug Club know how to get on 6 Music Playlists and get played in regular rotation before or after the likes of Wet Leg.
I prefer The Bug Club to Wet Leg. Their latest album Very Human Features (god knows how many they've put out), is forty minutes of likeable Indie Guitar quirkdom. Music made by people ewho pull oddball faces in synch onstage. The records alright.
It just seems conditioned by mannered expressions and slightly feigned quirkiness.Songs didn't really stand out so much as fit into prescribed grooves and channels. I waited for Very Human Features Take The Skinheads Bowling moment and it never really arrived. 6.5.
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