Tuesday, May 10, 2005

...in a land of Make Believe that don't believe in me!

I love Tuesdays - I always sleep past the alarm - my boss always tries to run me over while walking into work - and Gilmore is just hours away!! But this special Tuesday is... special... um.

This dropped into my hands after a quick stop this morning...



YEAH! Got to listen to 7 tracks before the boss tried to kill me. Tracks 1-3 are stellar... with the other 4 coming off very Green album. But you can always count on Weezer for some quality simple tunes.

On the blog front - beware faithful reader, a new group of bitter sardonic yappers have entered Damfinoblog. Keep careful watch out for Sheriff-Officer T.J. Hooker; he is a quick witted miser who will bombast the innocent reader with crude humor and jaw dropping statements. Also, young Alexander Kern has made his way into the blog - ready to gobble up your poetic soul with tasteful licks of canter!

Finally - just to inform you my faithful fans - I will not be blogging for a few days. I am off with the family to



in Cedar Rapids. The show has been sold out for quite a while and we look forward to slagging around with some sweaty teens be-bopping to some stellar grooves from the boys. Also, My Chemical Romance will be opening... I know... sometimes you can't help but truly wish you were me.

Off to tackle the communication needs of the world. Peace out playas!


8 comments:

krysta jo said...

Can you say obsessed??

Damfino said...

With what? I don't get it!

urnotme said...

Seriously people...WEEZER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, have you read Rivers Cuomo's piece in Rolling Stone.. Very disapointing! He sounds like...um... a new age hippie.. I absolutely can't wait to hear the new anyway. I hoooope to gawd my wonderful brother in law burns me a copy today for tonight. Now that would be stellar

Check yo self befo you wreck yo self

Damfino said...

Rolling Stone gave it 4 stars!

Can't wait to hit the road and listen again.. and yes - copies were made at 8:30 this morning.

Kern said...

I used to give our friend King Jed a hard time about Green Day back in the old days, and as much as I don't think they're real punk, I don't know that they're really trying to convince anyone of that anymore. I sure as hell don't like them either, but there are far more bands that I would worry that kids are mistaking for punk these days. I mean, look at the emo phenomenon. Crank up the distraught misunderstood geek factor and scream whatever god awful self-involved whiny poor me garbage they scribbled furiously in their little journal after that girl in science class wouldn't go out with them, and blam! Instant genre! Just add disaffected youth...

This isn't to say that emo didn't have reasonable beginnings, back when it was bands like Rites of Spring with Ian McKaye(of Fugazi fame). There are a few bands today that have not taken the easy route and dressed themselves ironically in Izod shirts and horn rimmed glasses, like Cursive or Bright Eyes.

Ultimately, I'm personally not worried about bands like Green Day making people think that it's "punk". I almost think they've been around long enough that the fans of the band like them for what they've become and they aren't relevant enough to get the younger kids to think they are "punk". What worries me is that kids are not seeking out anything new and different. It is really disheartening how little kids break the boundaries set up by mass marketed trends and culture.

The end of Western Civilzation did indeed come around, and the truth is that mediocrity and lack of innovation in all genres of music are to blame in my opinion.

Then again, I've written this whole thing while listening to Belle and Sebastian so what the hell do I know?

urnotme said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Damfino said...

That was Alexander Kern... or Alexxx as we all know him... give him a hand everyone!

Thanks for the defense Kern, Deit Heimley best go hit the bar for a few shots to clear his mind... for the Kern has burnest thou!!

YO

(off to Green Day - old punk wannabe!)

Kern said...

First I just want to clarify: I in no way shape or form endorse listening to Green Day nor paying hard earned money to bounce up and down at their shows. Ok, just had to get that out.

In Deit's response, I saw the concern that the younger generation would not know true punk. I fully agree with that. I'm not the most "punk rock" guy out there, but it was and continues to be at its heart, one of most important genres in the pantheon of rock music. It's a little scary when kids would rather listen to bands like Simple Plan, New Found Glory and Good Charlotte than the Sex Pistols, or Black Flag, or Fear.

Worse yet, when you mention the last three and get vacant stares from their youthful faces as though you just suggested that you spend a Friday evening playing Canasta and doing Metamucil shots. I think a lot of the bad music choices that kids make today is out of a sheer lack of knowledge that anything else exists. I don't know if people are too apathetic to seek out anything that is a)over 10 years old or b)doesn't show up on radio, MTV or play in the background of an iPod commercial. I think my take on the musical choices of today's youth differs slightly from Deit's, is that I do believe that a large part of it is a generation gap. A generation gap that I believe has shrunk to periods of 5 years as opposed to 20. I think this manifests itself in a couple of ways. First, the younger generation seems to have a more disposable view of music. We live in a time of instant gratification and "What's the next big thing?". I think the hype machine draws bands in and spits them out...but dressed up in buzz, lots of kids don't notice and buy it up. Secondly, the lack of knowledge about older groups. Let's face it, the history of music is a daunting one, and I don't think most kids know where to start without some help from older siblings or friends, or someone. The Sex Pistols anecdote is right on...I think there are teenagers right now who only know bands like The Stooges or MC5 because some actor wore one of their shirts on TV. They are slightly aware something else is out there, but they need that push to help them discover it.

I think many of us will agree that the state of music today is kind of sad on many fronts. But, it makes the small discoveries when you have to dig to find bands of quality and distinction all the more sweet. While I am saddened at the reality that kids seem to enjoy a lot of the poor music they are being inundated with, I can only hope that with help of people that remember how good it can be, coupled with a healthy kick of proactivity, more young people will seek out the buried treasures rather than being content to listen with their heads in the sand.