Wolfmother

Well, I went to see Wolfmother at the Kool Haus in Toronto last night. I have to say that they put on a good show. They opened up with “Dimension”, also the first track of their self-titled album, and it was loud and heavy and everything you like about the band, assuming you like the band. The set continued with more songs off of their debut album, over the top feedback, throwing around of instruments and microphone stands and the general posturing of a band with deep ties to “The Who”, “Jimi Hendrix”, “Led Zeppelin” and “Nirvana”. Let me say though, when I mention these other bands in the same breath as Wolfmother, I am speaking of the on stage antics and not to the quality. I personally have always liked the purity of a three member band, Rush, The Police, Nirvana, to name several. Wolfmother while they have that pure energy, is probably most respected and followed by default. Their music is reminiscent of some of the power rock that we just haven’t seen enough of in the last two decades. In the words of Eddie Murphy, if your starving and someone throws you a cracker, your gonna be like, “Wow that’s a good cracker.” And that’s what Wolfmother is, a good cracker. They have the raw energy and plenty of attitude, but the music just isn’t there. I think people are thirsting for that old school rock and roll energy and want to believe that Wolfmother is more substantial band than the music proves out. Last night during the encore set, Andrew Stockdale, the lead singer swaggers up to the mike and declares, “Some people say that Wolfmother is derivative, we are not fucking derivative.” Now, if you weren’t trying to sound like a mash-up of Led Zeppelin and Styx, and you weren’t playing your guitar behind your neck and with your teeth ala Jimi Hendrix, or using the mike stand as a bow ala Jimmy Page. And let’s just say you didn’t have The Who in mind when you trashed your instruments. Lets face it, the best thing about this band is that they are derivative. Of all the bands that they are not trying to copy, their best song wouldn’t come close to the worst of those legendary bands. But the crowd doesn’t seem to know the difference. During the encore they did a very respectable cover of Led Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown, and the crowd kinda stopped and stared. Most of them didn’t know the song. It’s very sad when mediocrity shines brighter than genius. It reminded me of an Umphrey’s Mcgee show where the crowd seemed to know every word to their songs, and then they did two Beatles cover tunes, and the crowd was silent, like, what is this shit. I mean it’s the fucking Beatles, come on kids have a little taste and knowledge. There are a few bands that are renewing a rock and roll sound, The Kings of Leon for one that have put out two respectable rock CD’s, and The Darkness, who put out Permission to Land back in 2003, and had a very similar buzz about them as Wolfmother. And in my opinion the music was superior, but alas they have had no success as of late and are threatening to fade into obscurity.
Wolfmother needs to get out of there own way. If they really want to be a great band they need to concentrate on their writing. You take White Unicorn for example, that is one of the most derivative songs I’ve ever heard. Is it Styx? Is it King Crimson? The answer is it’s neither, because it’s not good enough to be Styx or King Crimson. Stop worrying that people are comparing you to great bands. It’s a wonderful place to start. You think Bruce Springsteen was offended when they compared his songwriting to Bob Dylan?
They played what appeared to be a new song for the crowd (might be called “Something”) and I for one, thought is was pretty good. If the new album has songs of that quality and better they might be around for a while. Bottom line is I enjoyed their performance, they have a lot of heart and energy. Now all they need is good songwriting.

Britney Spears is just a symptom...Like pus.

I was told that if I put the words Britney Spears in the content of a blog, that it would get a lot of hits. So I’m trying it out. Recently I read an article in a Canadian newspaper about a girl in Toronto (I’m sure not the only one) who idolizes Britney Spears. Now, on the surface it seems like a normal piece, but not really. The author was attempting to do just what I am. Use the name Britney Spears to get exposure. What’s more, as unbiased as the article was in expressing the reasons for the girl’s ardor, it implied that anyone who would devote their time to such a trivial individual, is a freak. I mean, why else write the article unless you want to expose something. And it worked! I skipped over all the articles about how many people were killed yesterday in the latest roadside bombing, so that I could shake my head at this misguided twenty-two year old girl, and feel utterly superior. Knowing I personally stopped thinking Roger Waters and Frank Zappa knew the meaning of life when I was twelve. Yeah, I used to put on my headphones and listen to “Shine on you Crazy Diamond” and think, this guy knows my life, he knows all our lives. If I could just talk to him for an hour, I would understand the meaning of life. But we’re getting off track because worshiping Pink Floyd or Jim Morrison as an adolescent at least showed you had a little musical taste.
But Britney Spears? She is a marginal talent who got most of her exposure being hot, jailbait, and dressing like a parochial school girl. Granted she was hot, but that was eight really long years ago. She has an OK voice, but what has she really done. Four bad albums in eight years? “Baby one more time” was written by Max Martin, she’s not even a writer. If you go to her website she hasn’t updated her blog since 2005. Her last pearl of wisdom to the fans was “People Magazine is great in my book!” I’m sure her book must be “The idiot’s guide to... Whatever.”
I’m starting to sound a little bitchy and I’m not even gay. Enough about Britney! My heart and testis go out to any young lady that is mired in Britneydumb. It is a fitting capper that she is now at the height of her fame for showing her gaping twat.
The record companies are all up in arms about declining CD sales. They want to blame illegal downloading. What they should do is try to develop an artist with some fucking talent. The state of the entertainment industry is appalling. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie that I didn’t feel ripped off by because I paid to see it in the theatre. Ok, I liked “The Departed” but that’s it for the whole year. And the truth is, movies like that used to be a dime a dozen. Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Robert DeNiro, anything these guy’s touched would be gold. Now it just the same warmed over shit.
The entertainment industry is lying to us and they are using our superstars to do it. They are selling us crap disguised as star studded events. I call on the celebrities to stop making bad moves. Boycott the work untill the scripts are better. You don't need the money! “Ocean’s Twelve” how much was that to make. That was awful. Sooner or later we regular folk are gonna stop taking the bait, we already have with music. There is a reason why the record industry is losing money and it’s not illegal downloading. It’s the same reason the Rolling Stones are still the biggest grossing tour. Or that Kiss is still around. Or the reason that The Police and Van Halen are gearing up for tours. It’s because you’ve let us down. You idol makers have dropped the ball. Shame on you Hollywood! Stop recycling every thing that was ever good in lieu of something new and worthy. Shame on you Rolling Stone! Stop glorifying the bullshit that passes for talent. You gave Jack White five stars, do I need to remind you that that’s the highest amount of stars?! So what you’re saying is “Elephant” is right up there with “Tommy”. Are you out of your fucking minds??? And Broadway, I was never a big fan, but can we get a fucking play that isn’t a recycled movie or based of the music of a great (or not so great, ABBA) songwriter. Are there no “Rodgers and Hammersteins” left? Or playwrites for that matter. Or are they all making Disney movies? You haven’t given us a star that we can really believe in for over twenty years, so we’re bringing back the ones that made us happy. Acadamy Award’s are going to children. Not that anyone gives a shit anymore because it’s all about what fucking designer they are wearing. The Police aren’t nostalgia, they are just the last time music was exciting. Maybe I should get excited about Radiohead because they are reminiscent of Pink Floyd? Or maybe I should just buy “The Wall”. Kids if your still reading this go buy a copy of “Houses of the Holy” or “Quadraphenia”, Or email me and I’ll give you 100 cd’s that are actually worth buying. But you can start with “Gaucho” by Steely Dan, and Overnight Sensation” by Frank Zappa. As a challenge name one album that equals any of those by a band that started after 1987.
You can’t build a culture around hip hugging jeans, thong panties, tattoos and peircings. And you can’t sit back and just count the money because no one is doing anything better. The NBA’s newest stars are all white guys from Eastern Europe. You know why? Work ethic! America can’t sit back on its laurels and be above getting back to quality. Because when 16 year old kids start lining up to see Penelope Cruz in something subtitled, is over Johnny. Lights out.