Just Don't Steal my Gil Mantera's Party Dream...
Do you remember when MGMT was first getting notoriety just over a year ago? Or the first time you heard “A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend? How about six months later when a kid with side-cocked, white hat said “’Time Pretend' That's my jam man!”? Yeah, I remember that. I remember it very clearly. Large companies and sponsors snatched up bands like MGMT and Vampire Weekend, for national ad campaigns. These bands went on to get submerged into mainstream radio and video play, which in turn planted them amongst obnoxious bro-party jams.
This past summer I visited the hipster mecca of McCarren Pool in Brooklyn for one of their free shows featuring MGMT and the Ting Tings. As I stood in line with my sister and father, I began noticing the abundance of plaid shorts and K Swiss in the line. For some reason it not only confused me but rather infuriated me. As if these bands were mine, and the bros were infiltrating my personal belongings. Granted I was standing in line with my dad, but I’m proud to say that I attend shows with my dad and he has educated pallet for music.
But I don’t go trouncing around in my skinny jeans at OAR or Umphrey’s McGee shows. This is the true ignorant hipster coming out in me. I like bands that have names that you have never heard before that leave people questioning the reality of their actually existence. I like going to shows where people actually dance and don’t spend more time smuggling weed in rather than enjoying the performance of the band performing. It is an asinine rant, but it is a true value of hipster culture.
When hipsters find ridiculously named bands, they want to keep them for themselves. Chances are, those same hipsters will “only like the old stuff.” I find this spectacle of our hipster culture incredibly entertaining. So much so, that a close friend and I have started a game where we imagine bands with absurd names and manifest background stories to tell people about at parties.
When hipsters find ridiculously named bands, they want to keep them for themselves. Chances are, those same hipsters will “only like the old stuff.” I find this spectacle of our hipster culture incredibly entertaining. So much so, that a close friend and I have started a game where we imagine bands with absurd names and manifest background stories to tell people about at parties.
For instance, have heard of We Made Sandwiches? Oh you haven’t? They’re really making it in Japan right now. They do this thing where they put a puppy in the bass drum and play double bass until the puppy dies. It is amazing.
My friend and I had a girl on myspace looking for this band for almost a half hour.
My friend and I had a girl on myspace looking for this band for almost a half hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment