Wednesday, December 29, 2010

It's like people only do things because they get payed.

Once upon a time there was an acoustic punk band named AGAINST ME!
They were a lot of fun, they released one of my favourite albums.
But then things went sour...

i should explain, the very first song i ever heard by AGAINST ME! was Baby, I'm an Anarchist an absurd ballad about how his liberal girlfriend isn't extreme enough for him. It all seemed very tongue in cheek and a lot of fun.
There are few greater things than singing this song at the top of your lungs.
Other than this song though, i believed they sang about what they believed in, the other songs were raw, emotional, and all about love, being poor, and being an angry youth.

Then they released a boring album and signed to a major label.
i remember at the time, all the criticism raised against them, with everything they say they are, how could they sell out?
Well, they responded by doing their own version of this:


i wish i were joking.
Yes, we've all seen Wayne's World, so tell me AGAINST ME! how well did selling out go for Wayne?
It was during this time i was first linked to Ablini's The Problem With Music.

They put out more bland music, and for the most part i forgot about them.
And then i came across this video:




Oy.
This is the bit that kills me:

I was a teenage anarchist
But then the scene got too rigid
It was mob mentality
They set their rifle sights on me

This is essentially the creed of the kid that can't take a joke and is taking his ball and going home.
i mean, for fuck's sake.
There is nothing wrong with growing up and realizing you were an idiotic youth, that's what SLC Punk is all about, and it's why it's one of my favourite movies.
But no, AGAINST ME! cries that it was the scene that was wrong, not them. They were really cool and hip, but the scene was just too mean.
You joined a band for fame and chicks, admit it, you were young and stupid, you will learn, be yourself and it will be alright.
While i have no respect left to lose for this band, i'm not entirely unreasonable. Reinventing Axl Rose will always be a great album.

The thing that makes me laugh though, is that by far, the most punk, that is, the most honest and emotional song this band wrote was Pints of Guinness Make You Strong.
And it's a song about an old Irish woman missing her dead husband, and it's incredible.

punx as fuck.