Here’ s the latest so-called “indie” band to not like: 120 Days from Norway.
They’re pretty much the nazz with bloggers, NYC clubbers, after-party goers, and underfed hangers-on.
A certain pleasant-but-aggressive US publicity company recently took the band on as clients. Another artist on their roster is the unyieldingly hyped Lady Sovereign, which should tell you something. Also, they’re on Vice, which might tell you something else.
I’ve been innundated with requests to review 120 Days for my other “outlets,” to use a lame music biz phrase. Surely, I’m expected to just fall in line.
120 Days are touted as a “modern-day krautrock band,” or some such nonsense. Fuck that. The sound like The Strokes with analog keyboards.
First of all, krautrock was a genre marked by idiosyncracies: most of the groups were wildly different from one another in process and result. Bands like 120 Days, on the other hand, seem to adopt whatever aesthetic happens to be in fashion.
For the original krautrockers — a post WWII generation of defiant art-school dropouts — it was important to work outside the realms of “polite” European classicism and borrowed American blues. Obsessed with rhythm and repetition, they drew inspiration from African music as well as emerging audio technologies. This sound later found its pop mark with New Wavers like the Talking Heads and “reformed” proggers such as Peter Gabriel and Robert Fripp. Bowie and Eno (who pretty much founded the New Wave) were both early champions.
Krautrockers sought to challenge preconceived notions of Germanic music, which had taken on some unfavorable associations. They traveled several sonic avenues, from the cold, motorik pulse of Neu! to the limber, pan-global grooves of Can. But some people assert that, with such a variety in sound, there is no real kratrock. This is a valid argument.
Anyway the little boys in 120 Days are about as far from Faust as a group can get. And that’s what I told their publicist.
No matter — they’ll no doubt get more exposure than I could give ’em by rocking those sponsored parties for Microsoft’s Zune MP3 player.
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I have a Beacon’s Closet t-shirt so I guess I can’t badmouth Williamsburg…. :(Casey, as much as I usually hate the classic “Best of 2006”-style lists, I would like to hear what your favorite albums of the year were, both new albums and recently discovered finds.
Let’s be fair. The one thing we agree on is that we all hate Brooklyn (Williamsburg) hipsters. Agreed?If only all pseudo-international conflict could be solved like this…
I think i’ll stick to the classic kraut rock bands like Oneida, and Pharoah Overlord.
How come their name is in English?Do they sing in English?When you abandon your native tongue to exploit foreign markets it’s probably a good sign of hype seekers.ben
Daryl Jennifer! That band sounds sweet!But I love Norway, and Norwegians. I totally wanna go there. And I’m not joking. I’ve got a serious crush on Scandinavia, and have had for quite some time.The same cannot be said about my feelings for Brooklyn.Still, I don’t like the band so much. But that’s not really the issue. it’s more a case of marketing, which blows every stylistic leaning completely out of proportion.I’m gonna listen to the record again, though, just to see if it was merely the hype that put me off.And Kjetl, if you’re really in the band, understand that what I think about your music matters far less than how you feel about it. But the post stays.
Burlington’s latest sludgecore/Afrocktrobeat quartet: Casey Rea’s Brooklyn.Bad Brains’ Darryl Jennifer to play bass.
Dear Mr. Rea,We do not understand the reason for your unkind comments towards our band and the representatives. We believe that we are bringing the sounds of classic Krautrock back to prominence and the value of our music is at least as high as the bands you mentioned from earlier times. Or is it that you are bitter towards Norwegians? While our home country may not be as hip as your Brooklyn, we are happy to believe that we are more than just another pretty face with analog synths. Do you not think our music has substances? We disagree. Please take away your bad comment about 120Days from the web. -Kjetl”120 Days”
I’m not slamming the band as much as the industry that tries to sell every scruffy group of lads as the Next Big Thing. I don’t think a band even deserves to be looked at in that light until they have at least three solid records under their belt. Then you know they might have some staying power.Pitchfork provides plenty of useful information; I go to their site every day. But they wield a disproportionate amount of influence, and some of their scribes are more interested in being the next Lester Bangs than commenting on a record. The same goes for the enormously overrated Chuck Klosterman. Once in awhile he writes something amazing in a manner all his own. The rest of the time he’s just farting in the wind to the applause of ironic hipsters.The biggest problem I have with today’s music criticism is that it’s lazy. Writers too often just repeat whatever buzzword or catchphrase gets foisted on a band by their PR company. Hence “krautrock” and 120 Days. Frankly, they have more in common with Oasis.There’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t shit in my hand and call it a Sundae.Led Loco could wipe the floor with any of these scrawny Nordic prettyboys, and we all know it!
Surely they pale next to such local luminaries as Led Loco. Where oh where is the justice in this world?
Nice anti-review! I took a listen to the mp3 on the blog site that was linked & it’s pretty weak. And from the live pics on that site, I’m pretty sure they’re actually just Hanson with Moogs.Nice slam on Pitchfork as well; they need a good slap across the head every once in a while.