OK, is this the worst piece of music writing ever?

also I've played Cheer Up Charlies indoor stage it does not hold "more than a couple hundred people" it's about the size of a Dunkin' Donuts.

possibly i have "emo is back!!!! in pog form" thinkpiece fatigue

Like Sorority Noise’s Boucher, Evan Stephens Hall is one of the great lyricists of our time

obviously

too bad this wasn't the time or place to ask an all-male band about why they named themselves Sorority Noise. it's not like a context for that discussion was set up in the first paragraph

i've never listened to them for that reason lol

This was a party, a religious experience, and a workout routine all at once.

ok i mean i hate to pile on but can we end live reviews now

I honestly find Sorority Noise a less offensive name than A Great Big Pile Of Leaves. Whoever came up with that should be force-fed leaves until they fucking die.

hahahahaha

i'm enjoying this new snark-free whiney persona

has he given up Subway?

i'm enjoying this new snark-free whiney persona

― k3vin k., Friday, March 18, 2016 4:11 PM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Swore off it on Twitter, never said anything about ILX

lol fair

zing fresh my friends

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/03/justin-bieber-continues-his-assault-on-kurt-cobains-legacy-by-performing-inside-a-heart-shaped-box/

The name "Sorority Noise" is good cause to once again trot out this Ian Svenonius quote:

The powerful associative effect of names is often misunderstood. While fondly thought of, mammalian names are a mistake--unless one chooses a mythical beast. A wild animal is a graceful creature that needs no clothes or grooming to look spectacular, and your onlookers--their expectations heightened--will inevitably be disappointed by the oafish onstage display of whatever crew of humanoids you've managed to muster. "Oh dear," they will say, "they are nothing like wolves/foxes/etc." If one hangs sucha name on one's group, one is raising the bar too high.

Male groups with "Girls" in their name have a similar problem. In literature and film, the "girl" represents the reader's/viewer's pure self-image. The audience is supposed to identify with the "girl," who is innocent, brave, artless, attractive, and clever (e.g., Chihiro of Spirited Away, Pippi Longstocking, and Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz). Film noir is predicated on the opposite idea--that audiences like to identify with cynical, morally bankrupt, been-there done-thats. These roles are typically played by middle-aged men with five o'clock shadows (Humphry Bogart, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum). Most groups now resemble the stars of the noir genre, physically if not sartorially. Bands with "Girl" in their name are almost invariably these kinds of hairy and less attractive men. As a rule, then, males should avoid group names with "Girl."

> As a rule, then, males should avoid group names with "Girl."

attn https://soundcloud.com/girlband

Girl Band are so completely fucking awesome I barely even consider their name, but fair point Ian.

assumed 'Girl Band' as a name was a commentary of sorts on the vapidity of the term 'girl band' as used in rock writing or w/e, which is a little different to what Svenonius is talking about there I guess

Really giving four white guys who cover techno songs a lot of credit there

don't feel strongly about their music either way but they seem bright enough guys

if you're implying that covering a Blawan track is racially problematic I'd suggest that's a bit of a reach

I was just saying they're dorks

Sun City Girls >>>> most bands

I was just saying they're dorks

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, March 21, 2016 1:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

pvmic

xp did you know there is an all-girl Sun City Girls cover band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcJuLm9CJiQ

that svenonius argument about male bands not calling themselves "girls" is such bullshit! it boils down to "girls are pretty and boys are hairy and can never live up to the sexy implications of femininity"

obviously male bands should still not call themselves "girls" for plenty of other reasons

To be fair, a band name that includes the word girls doesn't necessarily mean they're calling "themselves" girls if that makes any sense. Splitting hairs a bit but still.

no need to "be fair" with misappropriated yoni power imo

Sorry, just meant "in some cases, perhaps" and worded badly.

there are enough words and/or morphemes to choose from that a choice of "girls" (or "women") is a deliberate and stupid one imo
and yes, svenonius' reasoning is lame

imo

what about if the band is called "Urgh, Girls"??

lame

exactly

can't read that svevnonius paragraph in anything but his voice, which is very sardonic

how about "Girl Germs"?

lol @ this reaction to Svenonius btw

like have you never encountered his schtick before

Does this apply to all female-identified band names?

The Sisters of Mercy
Leather Nun
The Lazy Cowgirls
Little Women
Baroness
Queen

not music writing but this guy is dumber than the band he is supposedly taking down:

The A.V. Club: What do you hate about “Ants Marching”?

Julian McCullough: The first thing I hate about “Ants Marching” is that it starts with the horn section, and I hate horn sections in rock music. They drive me fucking crazy. So I already don’t like you when your riff is a horn.

http://www.avclub.com/article/comedian-julian-mccullough-hates-dmbs-condescendin-233484

Does this apply to all female-identified band names?

I would say that if you are forming a band now, and you are all men, a) where are your female musician friends, and b) you should definitely consider whether your band name might help perpetuate a historical imbalance where women don't even own the right to naming themselves as women (there are fairly few all-female bands who have taken 'boys' or 'men' names, because the men have already taken them too, I can think of a couple but they are outliers). Obviously a fair amount of the time band names are not "we are this" but "we are referring to this", but you should still be thinking about what you are implying.

Obviously a fair amount of the time band names are not "we are this" but "we are referring to this", but you should still be thinking about what you are implying.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Black_Teenagers

oh god i was on an episode of the mark hoppus show with that comedian dude. so unfunny, fuck 'comedy' right now imo

I am glad for this conversation, I'd been feeling kind of churlish for being mildly bothered that a local band here (one of the better ones) is called Girl Power and is three dudes

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/all-talk-and-no-stick/

2. Cindy Blackmon

It is important to note that women seem to be unfairly underrepresented in the world of rock drumming. I don’t know why this is, but the reason certainly isn’t physiological. It’s established that women tend to have slightly more body fat and slightly less muscle mass, but so what? The rock drummer who probably had the fastest hands ever (Ginger Baker) had arms like twigs at the height of his powers, and the best drummer of all time (Buddy Rich) got to be a chubby bastard toward the end with no discernable effect on his playing.

So it’s maybe cool if Cindy Blackmon, Lenny Kravitz’s enthusiastic, sometimes-afroed drummer, gives girls the courage to pick up the sticks and give it a shot, but that’s about the only good thing I can think to say. The drummer for Lenny Kravitz should be a lot better.

Blackmon is a textbook case of a middling player holding a better artist back. True, she may have been hired for her looks and not her playing; the fault there lies with Lenny for hasty overpromotion. Still, one can’t shake the fact that Lenny himself is a better drummer than Cindy. You can hear it on songs like “Let Love Rule,” on which he plays with remarkable heart.

Cindy, on the other hand, is singularly uncreative and mechanical in her rock beats. In a review of her work with Kravitz, Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote, “Cindy Blackmon on drums could switch from the splashy, sludgy style of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Mitch Mitchell to the casual economy of Ringo Starr.”
Just like Ringo, you say? Oh goody.

Also her name is spelled wrong throughout

The drummer for Lenny Kravitz should be a lot better.
lol is there some kind of Lenny Kravitz rule for how good his drummer should be?

5. Carter Beauford The Dave Matthews Band’s drummer is on both of my lists.

christ

The physically diminutive, poorly-spoken, heroin-addicted drummer for the Clash

what about if the band is called "Urgh, Girls"??

― Szechuan TV (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, March 23, 2016 9:29 AM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Urgh! A Music Girl"

The physically diminutive, poorly-spoken, heroin-addicted drummer for the Clash

Ha I thought was a game of "what if we described male musicians in the same "<physical attribute> <vague putdown> <tabloidy autobiographical detail>" way as this dude used for Cindy Blackman* and horrible local paper reviewers everywhere use for all female musicians, but no, this actually appears in the article

amazing

* not, alas, related to Larry Blackmon as the author's misspelling had got me hoping