Re: (TV) Verlaine - Cover @ Reflex

[Rex Broome <rexbroome@gmail.com>]

On 10/21/05, Russ Van Rooy <russvr@pop.nwnexus.com> wrote:
>
> I'm not sure where they get that idea. Who are they refering to ? The
> Strokes ? Franz Ferdinand ? Bloc Party ? There's three that might have
> been remotey influenced by Television/TV but sheesh , "overstufffed" ?
> Most of the above bands are more likely to list Gange of Four as their
> main influence.

  I think we all agreed a while back that when critics say a band sounds
like Television, they really mean Gang of Four. Why this is, I don't know. I
think people get the sound of the first wave of Television-influenced
postpunk bands confused with Television themselves. That'd include the
Bunnymen and Joy Division and The Chameleons and people like that as well as
Gang of Four. Like Interpol... they sound way more like The Chameleons than
Television, but the Televsion comparison won't die (because Interpol is from
NY?)... and the Strokes, that's more of a Velvets thing, isn't it?
 Interestingly now I'm starting to hear bands who are clearly imitating
Interpol themselves. The same thing is probably happening with Franz
Ferdinand etc. My bass player and I were just talking about how weird it is
when a certain "sound", especially a kind of visceral, non-techniquey sound
like this one, is suddenly picked up on by every band on earth... clearly
most of those players haven't been playing this style for long, but suddenly
they are. Weird. Happens every few years (garage revival, grunge, etc.), but
I never expected this particular sound to be the one that everyone was
shooting for. When I was in a band that sounded pretty much like that during
the grunge era, people kept telling us we had to change our sound or we
would never make it*. I'm sure a lot of those same folks are cranking up the
reverb in an attempt to be cool these days.
 Grumble grumble grumble...
 Bloc Party to me comes closest to Television in theory and practice (while
still not sounding very Television-y). Which may or may not be why I like
them.
 Rex

*PS we never did make it, and we really sounded more like The Icicle Works
than anyone really cool.
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