The Kids aren’t alright
I didn´t want to write this update. Usually there are plenty of things to write about; great bands you´ve seen, a movie, a demo…but this time, not really. I could write something nasty, which is what I mostly feel like doing, but now is not the time..And, it´s never good to write nasty things, as a columnist/writer/whatever, you´re suppose to write constructive and make it interesting for the reader. Most of the times, I feel I don´t.
This time it will be pretty personal as I have certain things I feel strong about concerning music;
1)you should not steal
2)you should not pass yourself of as something you´re not
3)the clothes doesn´t make the music
I have plenty more rules and regulations, but these 3 almost got me in trouble at the Digfi/ComeOutAndPlay show in Lund. I write for Digfi, I like Digfi. A place on the internet where you can find soundfiles with a bunch of swedish bands from different genres, read articles and columns…and you can also add your comment to each article and column. http://www.digfi.com
So, when they announced they would bring it on the road, it sounded like a great idea. Then they announced the bands. Sissy Prozac was to play throughout the tour with 2 local bands backing up on each stop. You can ask our dear Helen/Sydney@nite as she saw it clearly when she was here; there is something wrong with Sweden; Everything is about image and clothes. Having a cool haircut and a studded belt will get you on ZTV, Sweden´s counterpart to MTV. If you´re young, have the haircut, the clothes and am a member of a band, you will be adored by the teens and become a rockstar. Papers don´t write about the music, they write about Ola Salo´s (of the Ark) new haircut. But then you say; “Well, it is about music! A haircut won´t make a show!”..Well, sorry, over here it does, cause the same line; “Everything is about image and clothes”, goes for the music as well. Sissy Prozac hit fame hard. Hard and fast. And they sound like a commercial for Hairgel; copy some rock´n´roll clichees and paste. As if Urban Decay had made a soundtrack. No spirit, no depth and no heart…but they look cool. For the kids who don´t come out much to shows cause they´re underage, this might sound like rock´n´roll and might be rock´n´roll to them. They have all the clichees, they´re not bad musicians and it is music. But to me, the though punkrock-heart, this isn´t rock. It´s as much rock as The SmurfHits, music for kids and according to me, it should be labelled as such. It´s entertainment, I laughed, but it ain´t rock´n´roll. http://www.sissyprozac.com
The other band that actually made me and Sarah (my wardrobe-date for the evening), run and hide, was the Sounds. The same, it is all package…and glue. You see, after the show, all my friends were talking and we all had the same to say; “Did you hear that? It was Elastica! Did you hear that song? It was “Out of Society” with Patti Smith….” Not one of their songs were actually theirs. Some had pieces from other songs, some were just copied. The result was a bad Sahara Hotnights with 80´s synthpop…and Sarah Hotnights aren´t too good to begin with. The singer was a bad Debbie Harry wannabee who had copied the same moves as the stoned Debbie does in “Heart of Glass”…probably not knowing that Debbie was who she was and moved the way she did cause she was s-t-o-n-e-d constantly, not because she wanted to be hip. The strangest thing is that this band has a recorddeal and fans who hasn´t gotten it…
No, they weren´t good. The same thing, not bad musicians, but no heart, just copied material. The first band out on the scene was C-Men. I loved them when I saw them the first time about a year ago and I love them now. Nope, they weren´t as young and hip-looking as the other bands on that stage that night, but they do have heart and soul, and it shows.
About a week before, we all went to Smålands. Hadn´t been there for a while and it was time to go back. Zombiefied was playing and as Jenina, my God, said they were good, I believed her. I forgot that we don´t always have the same taste, as I badly wanted to get out and get some rock. Zombiefied played a mix of hardcore and old school punk with 2 vocalists. A guitarist that had never seemed to have more fun. A borrowed drummer who learnt the songs right there and then.4 cameras filming them.3 photographers taking pictures. And a bunch of fans. They had heart. Not really my thing, but it´s always great to see bands have fun on stage and do what they believe in.
So, what is up next…Well, Hellacopters are coming into town, at Loppen in Copenhagen the 1st and on the 2nd at KB in Malmö.Their supportact is the Hives who´ve played down here more often than I water my plants..All ages, 100:-, could be nasty..
nah, now I´ve done mine and I am forgetting all about Sissy Prozac and the Sounds..
/Lisa D
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