Sinister: The unbareable tweeness of lightning

[Grant Bennett]

Hello all.

 This is my first post, as I've just been released from the nursery.  I
 was all shades of miffed at not being able to partake in the discussions
 of s***ing out, but, such is the price of infancy.  To beat a dead
 horse, I personally prefer the term "jumped the shark" to "s***ing out".
  It's based on the premise that "Happy Days" was a good show until
 Fonzie jumped his motorcycle over a shark tank.  After that, it went
 downhill.  In my humble opinon, as long as a band continues to put out
 music that makes you _feel_ something, then they haven't jumped the
 shark.

 That out of the way, I suppose I should introduce myself.
 Name: Grant Bennett
 Age: 23
 Where I am: Maryville, Missouri, USA
 Bands I dig: B&S, They Might Be Giants, Rancid, Rollins Band, Velvet
 Underground, Propellerheads... a bunch of stuff, really.

  Back to content:

 Regarding Napster:  I use it, quite often.  If I hear of a new band, I
 see if I can find some of their songs that way.  This is how I was first
 exposed to Billy Bragg.  If I like the stuff, I'll purchase some albums.
  If I don't, well, I delete it.  The sound quality is... ok, I guess.  I
 don't really have much of a hi-fi system.  I generally won't download
 mp3s of artists that I really dig.  If they have a new album coming out,
 I'll buy it, knowing that I'll probably like it.  (If you're looking for
 a laugh, visit http://www.theonion.com and read the Kid Rock article.)

On politics in songs:
To paraphrase John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful -- artists haven't been
that astute in making political statements in the past, so why should they
start now?  I don't listen to a lot of overtly political bands (Atari
Teenage Riot being an exception), and I'm not a very political person.
Except when it comes to free-speech issues.  Apart from that, eh.  Not
really concerned that much.  I tend to be more left-leaning than
conservative.  Don't get me wrong -- I dig songs that get you all riled up
about issues, and I'm fully aware that my punk rock tastes are firmly rooted
in socio-economic-political situations, but to me the music, the emotion
expressed in the song, the song's ability to make you _feel_ emotions is
more important than the message.  "Sloop John B" is about a bad time on a
ship and nothing more, but it's one of my favorite songs.  "I Don't Like
Mondays" is about a school shooting and the reaction to it, and it's my
favorite song in the whole world.  But it's the emotion that matters.  With
Kid Rock, for example, I get a sense of love for the music he's sampling.
With Limp Bizkit, I don't get any sense of emotion whatsoever.  Similar
artists, yet there are subtle differences.  Enough on this missive, however.
Back to B&S.

 I got into B&S not entirely by accident.  I thought that TBWTAS was an
 interesting title, so I bought it.  And loooooooved it!  It's the only
 B&S I have, but, it got me here, didn't it?  I've not heard "Legal Man"
 yet, but I simply must hear "Judy is a dick slap".  I love that title.
 Don't know why.  (Question:  What is an "arab strap"?  I know that
 there's a band in GB called Arab Strap, and with the B&S album, I'm sure
 that it's a real thing.  Is it a wacky British thing that I'm not hip to
 yet?  Is it something that would make my grandma cringe?)

 Anyhow, my 15 minutes are up.  And I need to go back to work.

 I may post a lot, I may not.  Who knows?  Oh, thanks to the people who
 were patient with a baby on IRC.

 -- Johnny

ICQ: 8172344

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