Comments on: How Bad Can It Be?: Fightstarters

By: grantimatter

grantimatter — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:48:30 +0000

I will kill you, for Lee Ranaldo's sake. There are a lot of Thurston headbangy songs that don't work for me, but "Mote" makes me cry. In the GOOD WAY.

I also see Jonathan Richman as being more like Otis Redding than Syd Barrett, possibly because I saw him live a few times before hearing him on record. Also, because I am childish.

Captain and Tennille, though, is dead on. Good interview with the Captain and his brother in a recent _TapeOp_. His brother founded the Surf Punks, which were far too much of a novelty band, but still. They have many tentacles in South California music, as well as providing a direct line of transmission between the Beach Boys (Cap toured with, was invited to become "full member" whatever that means) and Jodie Foster's Army.

By: grantimatter

grantimatter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:48:30 +0000

By: grant

grant — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:48:30 +0000

By: Jack Feerick

Jack Feerick — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:21:25 +0000

Get out your Rush albums from the mid-80s – let's try Grace Under Pressure. Listen to “Distant Early Warning,” to pick an example. Does it… remind you of some other band? Might Rush have been… modelling their sound on some other act? Say… the Police?

Now. Are there any Police songs where they're trying to sound like Rush? No. No, there are not. Advantage = Police.

And the Doors were only ever highly rated by stoners. The critical establishment and the smart set always hated 'em – you know, the same people who drool all over Sonic Youth.

By: DwDunphy

DwDunphy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:20:12 +0000

Oh so you want to crosh de enemeez, see dem driffen before you and hear da lammentesshon of de wimmin.

By: arensb

arensb — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:06:12 +0000

Are they still around? When “Pass the Dutchie” came out, I figured they were a one-hit novelty act.

By: Jack Feerick

Jack Feerick — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:00:44 +0000

You're actively looking for a fight?

I live only for the thrill of battle. You know. Like Conan the barbarian.

By: Jack Feerick

Jack Feerick — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:59:09 +0000

Dude. UB40 were “a Brit reggae band.” The Police – something else again.

By: drcastrato

drcastrato — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:37:32 +0000

I really like this posting, although you sure crammed a lot of fightstarers in one post. Fightstarters should be it's own weekly column, with maybe 2 or 3 topics.

Sonic Youth kinda sucks, but there are even more overrated bands out there. I'm thinking The Doors, for one.

Seinfeld is still hilarious. There's some really clever writing in there, and aside from Jerry, the acting was trendsetting (I didn't say "great.")

I disagree on EVH. Eddie is not the greatEST, but he's pretty awesome. Solos are one thing, but his combo of riffs and noodling is a joy.

And I LOVE the Police, a TON, but come on. The best band of the last 30 years is clearly Rush.

By: deltaslide

deltaslide — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:49:02 +0000

Although it's music to my ears to hear someone say what you have to say about Sonic Youth ( a true triumph of hype over talent-thanks) I have to disagree about Eddie. You forget that in his day he single-handedly re-invented rock guitar and introduced a whole new vocabulary to the game. His influence is pervasive. In addition, as a live performer he is endlessly inventive, improvising constantly and never playing the same thing twice. His rhythm playing is also VASTLY underrated and you only have to listen to hear something very unique and complex that livens up even the lamest songs in the VH catalogue. Everyone's has their personal taste but to say that he's “in no way a great guitarist” is laughable.