10/26/2013

And The Hipsters Sing...



Black Aspirin is our new noise. It's the result of channeling a whole lot of negative / nervous / anxious energy. Listeners have already begun to get excited about the combination of melody, sleaze and bad attitude...
"Whizzy hollow future vibe loved up punk puke robot siren."
"I love it so much I'm going to put it on my headphones and gaffa tape a cellophane bag over my head and listen to it for the last 13 seconds of joyous existence."
"With a spitting steel feathers humour, The Meks demonstrate just how easy it is to replicate the classic Pop Punk Goth Rock swagger, whilst adding a spark of originality into the mix by scuppering the mood with synth solos, tubular bell chimes and lyrical content clearly aimed at the kind of trendy wankers currently lapping this kind of thing up."

It's on bandcamp and you can download it via viinyl.com if you give us a plug on your tweet or facebrick page. It comes in two parts and has some ace tunes and fresh mixes. It was essentially written as a piss-take of the current crop of hipster bands slapping themselves on the back for blatantly ripping off the likes of Banshees, Joy Division and The Sisters of Mercy (long after they were interesting). You can also download a 22 page Black Aspirin Manifesto if you want more info and pics.





Our rampant imaginations are filtered / throttled through the narrow snare of the now.

Black Aspirin is about the way that bands get away with failing to move things forward and receive praise for blatant imitation of their heroes.

What really gets to me is that the people that should be calling out bands for this kind of approach are instead applauding them; the same people that attack the likes of us for daring to simply embrace more than one style of music. 

The fact is there ARE bands out there (Little Death Machine, Blindness, Dru Amelia, Introverts) with a punk sensibility, a Post-Punk sound palette, a spark of originality and their hearts in the right places; bands unafraid to fuck with conventions whilst still embracing a decent tune, a decent bass riff.  I just know there's a tonne of people out there doing it this way, but there so hard to find because the people that should be shouting them out busy sucking up to the safe bets.

 


It occurs to me that I always avoid the obvious (genres, structures, themes, styles) because they've all either been exploited to death, or they're just pigeon holes built by people motivated by money, not music. These things are just not interesting. There is nothing rebellious, innovative or challenging about conforming to uniforms, arrangements, song structures and attitudes that have been around for 50 years or more.

There is a big difference between wearing your influences on your sleeve and ripping off a band's beat, wardrobe, poses, lyrics, riffs...  

I freely admit that my attitude about all this isn't cool. Making music for me isn't just something to tell people about at parties, it's my obsession. I work really damned hard at it. It's not easy. And I make things harder for myself by refusing to schmooze. I've never had any time for the bullshit of the trendy clubs full of spoiled posers talking my ear off about what they are going to do. What they are never going to do. 

But when I respect someone and their work I think it's fair to say I champion and plug them with a passion. I respect honesty and determination, I have no respect for bandwagoning affluent hipster assholes robbing my culture just like they rob every other culture. 

It is also a response to people who don't seem to be able to make a small leap to where acts like us are at. Taking our reluctance to conform to conventions as laziness, we've tried to show just how easy it is to do an old fashioned conventional song.


“I’m not asking for originality. I’m just asking for more. I want to hear one influence that isn’t already pre-approved by a bunch of old white dudes.”  1




In part, the writing and recording of Black Aspirin was fueled by a recent bit of online hassle from someone I've treated with nothing but care and respect, long after our mutual friends and peers gave up on them as a time-waster and a flake. 

This person has spent the last few years on permanent vacation. During the brief periods when they are not on holiday, I get an occasional request to plug their contribution more / demands to remove all traces of their contribution. This time they reached a new low, amongst other things highlighting their own sexism (I was told to "man up" - which to anyone who knows me personally is almost amusing in itself). 


“Not the shock of the new so much as the comfort of the old. The “I like stuff that sounds like the stuff I already like” branch of the rock’n’roll fanclub meets here. This is the part where those people reflexively shout “ THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS ORIGINALITY!” Of course, when confronted with an artist who does thing differently, these same people mock them. They can’t play their instruments! They don’t know what they’re doing! This is terrible! Is this some kind of joke?" 2






We know what we are doing, and this is some kind of joke.
http://themekanoset.bandcamp.com/album/black-aspirin

http://themekanoset-blackaspirin.viinyl.com/



Quotes 1 + 2: Scott Creney http://www.collapseboard.com/reviews/albums-reviews/savages-silence-yourself-pop-noirematador/ 


Thanks to Ade B (Mutate), Justine, Lee, Alan Neilson, MM Lyle + DJ Wildbillbuttock + DJ Cruel Britannia + DJ Martin OldGoth