Rejoice, hipsters! I present to you a brand new album of anthems for you and your friends, all perfectly suited to soundtrack your life as you snort cocaine off the back of a filthy toilet in a rundown bar and/or shop for ridiculously tight pants at Urban Outfitters. Surely the last Killers album must be wearing thin by now, so this new steaming pile by VHS or Beta has arrived just in time, no?
I’ve never understood this whole indie-rock-dance-band revolution thing that has happened over the past few years. I guess when the parties moved out of their parents’ basements and into crappy clubs and bars, the scene kids needed something with a beat in order to maximize the appeal of their fashion choices and poor health. And that, my friends, was the birth of indie rock dance music. This “dance music” is made primarily with guitars, the synths are drowned out by butt rock riffs, and the insipid lyrics are generally about being a sad and misunderstood asshole that’s still fun totally fun at parties.
VHS or Beta’s Bring on the Comets is a pretty standard addition to the artless realm of indie rock dance music. To be fair, the record does exactly what it’s meant to do – it’s mindless, catchy pop with shiny production and absolutely nothing going on beneath the surface, created for people with absolutely nothing going on under the surface. The songs aren’t really bad, per se, but so utterly basic and lacking in creativity that I’m somewhat intellectually insulted. Sure, the tracks are catchy, but so is that hemorrhoid jingle I heard on television yesterday, and I certainly don’t want to play that on my stereo. Well, maybe once, but just for kicks. You know how it is.
I would break down the tracks for you, but why put ourselves through such torture? Trust me, all the songs sound nearly identical. If you’ve heard “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, then you’ve heard this album, and I fucking know you’ve heard that song. Bring on the Comets is a lifeless and useless release from a band who caters to the lifeless and useless crowd. VHS or beta, you ask? I choose digital, thank you very much.
Release date: August 28, 2007
Label: Astralwerks
Rating: 4/10
8 Comments »
oh right, sorry. *cough* they don’t. ever.
There’s plenty of great indie-rock dance music, but to bolster your point, it usually has a lot more going on than just the dance beat. Take the Liars’ first album, or Dismemberment Plan’s Emergency And I and “The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich.”
It’s a bit overgeneralized to dismiss indie-dance — I know you and I both love New Order, and they used guitars too, just to give proper props to the inventors of the genre.
But that said, this album sounds awful. Watch me avoid it. Watch me, I say!
i agree with both of you, and for the record, i fucking love the liars. and new order. i guess i have a very specific breed in mind when i say indie dance. maybe i should think of a new term. i’m talking only about the tasteless, colorless crap, a la the killers. someone think of a new term! come on. sam, you do it! you’re good at this…..
come you KNOW you let the Killers first album play in your car cd player for AT LEAST a week when you first heard it.
but VHS or Beta…ya all of their songs are catchy, and they all sound the same. like identical the same. but that’s their thing…that & ultra tight pants…i will never understand ULTRA tight pants, and i’m gay. seriously, if anyone wants to wear tight pants its us fag’s, cause we want to show off our ass-ets!
I like “Indie Dunce,” myself, given the willful stupidity of most of these bands…
hahaha, sam, that’s pretty good.
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Comment by Christine — August 24, 2007 @ 6:50 am
Hipsters do not do cocaine.