HyHax, It began like any other visit to the dentist's office.
I flopped down on a hard waiting-room couch and looked at the brown-eyed boy to my right, jealous he had grabbed the last copy of ESPN The Magazine and left me with either Parenting or Seventeen.
I listlessly yanked the "Seventeen" from the table.
First of all, let me say I have a problem with Seventeen telling our little sisters what to wear and what's hip and cool. I'm not a fan of trends, and Seventeen makes its money telling teens what is trendy.
Against my better judgment, I opened the magazine.
"Am I Emo?" It was staring up at me, begging to be mocked.
"Hopefully Ian McKaye hasn't seen this," I think. I'm a fan of his, and the heart attack it could cause won't be good for any upcoming Fugazi tour dates.
Let me start off by saying whoever started calling this latest rash of trendy indie rock "emo" needs to get a little more creative. That name's already been taken.
Who was it that first decided Dashboard Confessional was emo? Bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring who helped found the genre involved uptempo cries and screams set to heavy guitar riffs.
Emo sprung from the bowels of Washington during the mid-80s. Yeah, that's right, most of the Seventeen readers were just coming into the world.
Real emo still does exist, and it is worth checking out. ÊI mean, look up Autumn to Ashes or Indian Summer sometime. That's emo. It's emotional -- as is all music from Cyndi Lauper to Garth Brooks -- but it's also hardcore, a definitive characteristic of the genre.
But labeling difference aside, Seventeen still goes against most of what indie rock itself is.
Indie rock -- think about it. ÊIndependent rock, as in not supported by major mainstream labels, radio or press.
That usually translates into working your tail off and touring most of the year just to ensure you have enough money to eat and clothe yourself. It's not so glamourous, and it's certainly not the picture Seventeen portrays.
It's become trendy, however, because that's what Seventeen told us would be cool.
Prada will no doubt make emo sneakers and graffiti logo tees, and Old Navy will help all the bargain shoppers out by doing the same.
I'm not at all critiquing these so-called "emo" bands right now. I'm merely saying that you might want to think twice about listening to Seventeen to find out what's what.
The article mentions Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World, The Rocking Horse Winner, Thursday and Desaparecidos.
Desaparecidos stole Casey Scott from the local scene earlier this year to thump out its basslines, and Dashboard Confessional is one of the most underrated bands of the last decade, at least according to a girl I sat next to on the bus. Ê
That, however, is really all I can say about any of these bands. Besides the fact that I've heard all of them and not a one of them even hint at emo.
I've also seen tons of New Found Glory shirts sprinkled throughout campus, although I've never checked them out.
I will get around to listening to the band sometime soon, though. I'm a fan of indie rock, you know.
-- Leah Newman is a variety writer for The Red & Black.
УбитаяДуША обратиться по имени
Четверг, 20 Декабря 2007 г. 11:16 (ссылка)
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Четверг, 20 Декабря 2007 г. 11:25 (ссылка)