They're not punkl; it's kind of stuff that could/should get airplay. It's radio friendly enough. They were kicked off Geffen Records because singer Lillian Berlin got into some sort of political debate with a label honcho; on tour, the singer got into it with Nikki Sixx because he was "too right wing." Here in Dallas, he made a lot of anti-Bush comments between songs and afterwards he was promptly hauled out into a back alley and beaten up by some local knuckle dragging thugs. On stage, he's been to set fire to Bush pics and piss ont hem to put out the flames. A lot of their songs have a strong political element and they aren't old fogeys and their lyrics don't seem contrived. They're pretty smart.
So, yeah, there's a lot of this stuff. But there's still a massive and frustrating disconnect between somehow linking this cultural, musical ferment to outside-the-music-venue political action. I have been to many shows where people pump their fists in agreement with really militant lyrics, but once the show's over, back to the same ol' same ol'. It too infrequently leads to activism outside the club scene (it does sometimes, though). Political tabling at shows is almost nonexistent nowadays.
The Living Things: http://www.spin.com/reviews/magazine/2005/11/051108_living_things/
Interesting article. I wish I could say I liked their music more (it's a little too slow for my taste, but I'm a speed freak), but I like what they're doing otherwise.
Just an example of someone "besides Bob Dylan," who is
nonetheless accessible to most folks, doing their part.
-B.
Chuck0 wrote:
"Let me guess--Mr. Baruma is an aging baby boomer who wanted to write about Bob Dylan and chose to write this ignorant article about American resistance culture so he could talk about Bob Dylan. That's a very redundant sentence, but so is Aruma's article. "