Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Humor in Rock 'N Roll
I am what I would call a shrewd consumer. I have very strict limits for how much I'll spend on both new and used cds, dvds, and video games. I think a lot of it is knowing how much something is worth to you, how much you can expect to find it for, and how long you're willing to wait to look for it.
So I've been very badly wanting a copy of the new cd by The Darkness's new cd, Permission to Land, which has been almost universally acclaimed as an unabashedly great piece of a seriously good, and not so seriously hilarious, butt-rockin' great time. When I saw it two days ago for $9.99 new I had to buy it immediately.
I've loved listening to the disc, and it reminds me of Electric Six's debut last year, Fire. Fire is not quite so acclaimed as Permission to Land, but it's still a really phenomenal record. Both albums combine a throwback sound with buckets of cocky attitude--Electric Six puts disco and funk spunk in a blender with rock panache, while The Darkness unabashedly update 80's arena rock and metal. Both albums are downright funny to listen to. And both albums rock your pants off.
I love that the bands are so funny. There's something great about a band that can live so fully on the best parts of old rock cliches, and yet still see the humor in their influences. It takes a lot of guts to pull off the swagger, though, and quite a bit of talent; somehow bands like these have to rise above the sum of their parts, which they wear so obviously on their sleeves (album sleeves, perhaps specifically). It's healthy to be able to laugh at who we were back when hair metal and disco were so popular, and yet still acknowledge that there was a lot of kickin' music that came out of it all.
It's strange to think that the excess of these music eras could be itching at our collective subconscious, desiring so badly to be expressed that bands like The Darkness could formulate a surprise takeover of the music scene. But if it's going to happen, I'd like it to happen this way, with our tongues in our cheeks, and with a full and conscious enjoyment of the utterly ridiculous cultural heritage we established in the last few decades of the 20th century.
It still might be in my best interest to resist buying those hot Thundercats boxers.
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