In the early hours of this morning, the most horrible things were said. Ok, so there's this boat, and inside this boat there's The Strokes and there's the killers. Who's steering this boat? Who decides what they listen to on the boat? Who's peelin' the potatoes? I think it's pretty clear:I suppose I should begin by making it clear that I am a big fan of The Strokes, and not a fan at all of the killers. I should also clarify that I'm also a fan of good music, and not a fan at all of bad music. Does this make me biased? Perhaps.
It's no secret The Strokes have had everything going for them. Before their first album was released they were already the most hyped band since the grunge era. They were going to be the saviors of rock and roll. They were a bunch a scruffy lookin' New York City rich kids with cigarettes and beers and a Velvet Underground song book. Now, there's nothing I don't like about that picture. They deny everything said about favorable treatment due to their status.
The killers- in my opinion a B-level/okay band. Sure, they've got some catchy tunes. The thing that gets me most about the killers is that they try so damn hard to climb the mountain of cool music and only get halfway up. Granted, success can be a real dampener on cool, but that's nothing The Strokes haven't been through. These guys are from Las Vegas, and sing about boy-girl stuff. All that usual boy-girl stuff, you know, she's lookin' at me from over there and I don't know what to do about it so I'll sing a little ditty.
Lyrical content of The Strokes' songs are a bit more gritty, when intelligible*. They say "Fuck" and they don't care 'cause they got the balls (and affordability) to sing about sex in the bathroom, hookers, and New York City cops who aren't that smart. And you know, I actually believe them. They smoke cigarettes and blow it in the killers faces.
Everything about them, right down to the names given to them at birth- is cool. Who would you rather have at your party- Brandon Flowers or Julian Casablancas? Dave Keuning or Albert Hammond, Jr**? Sorry, you can't compete Mr. Keuning.
The Strokes' music is all guitars-drums-vocals. This is where they deliver the knock out punch in the killers faces. Compare the production of the killers to The Strokes, and you'll find they completely different recording methods and mixing styles. The Strokes could record their music just the same on a four track tape recorder you can buy for 20 bucks at Wal-Mart. The killers need at least 32 tracks for their little buzzes and background noises. Give Casablancas a sock on his mic to sound like he's singing his words through a dirty NYC phone booth and you've got yourself a classic recording.
Now I'm making a big point about how The Strokes are 'cooler' than the killers. Does this argument make their music better? Well, not exactly, but their coolness only makes the genius of their music that much more noticeable. If their music wasn't good, they wouldn't be 'cool' now would they?
I have to stop. My argument at this point is already too good. Let's recap- Strokes are cool because they ooze the cool shit all over, the killers try too hard and are too late and aren't that good.
SCOREBOARD:
The Strokes - a million
the killers - zer0000
Go look up the killers on youtube, I couldn't find anything that even allowed embedding. Real cool, right?
*unintelligible=cool
**this is Albert Hammond Sr
It's no secret The Strokes have had everything going for them. Before their first album was released they were already the most hyped band since the grunge era. They were going to be the saviors of rock and roll. They were a bunch a scruffy lookin' New York City rich kids with cigarettes and beers and a Velvet Underground song book. Now, there's nothing I don't like about that picture. They deny everything said about favorable treatment due to their status.
The killers- in my opinion a B-level/okay band. Sure, they've got some catchy tunes. The thing that gets me most about the killers is that they try so damn hard to climb the mountain of cool music and only get halfway up. Granted, success can be a real dampener on cool, but that's nothing The Strokes haven't been through. These guys are from Las Vegas, and sing about boy-girl stuff. All that usual boy-girl stuff, you know, she's lookin' at me from over there and I don't know what to do about it so I'll sing a little ditty.
Lyrical content of The Strokes' songs are a bit more gritty, when intelligible*. They say "Fuck" and they don't care 'cause they got the balls (and affordability) to sing about sex in the bathroom, hookers, and New York City cops who aren't that smart. And you know, I actually believe them. They smoke cigarettes and blow it in the killers faces.
Everything about them, right down to the names given to them at birth- is cool. Who would you rather have at your party- Brandon Flowers or Julian Casablancas? Dave Keuning or Albert Hammond, Jr**? Sorry, you can't compete Mr. Keuning.
The Strokes' music is all guitars-drums-vocals. This is where they deliver the knock out punch in the killers faces. Compare the production of the killers to The Strokes, and you'll find they completely different recording methods and mixing styles. The Strokes could record their music just the same on a four track tape recorder you can buy for 20 bucks at Wal-Mart. The killers need at least 32 tracks for their little buzzes and background noises. Give Casablancas a sock on his mic to sound like he's singing his words through a dirty NYC phone booth and you've got yourself a classic recording.
Now I'm making a big point about how The Strokes are 'cooler' than the killers. Does this argument make their music better? Well, not exactly, but their coolness only makes the genius of their music that much more noticeable. If their music wasn't good, they wouldn't be 'cool' now would they?
I have to stop. My argument at this point is already too good. Let's recap- Strokes are cool because they ooze the cool shit all over, the killers try too hard and are too late and aren't that good.
SCOREBOARD:
The Strokes - a million
the killers - zer0000
Go look up the killers on youtube, I couldn't find anything that even allowed embedding. Real cool, right?
*unintelligible=cool
**this is Albert Hammond Sr
4 comments:
I really like this post. I could not agree more than I do alrready.
To me, music died the day Kurt Cobain shot himself. The Strokes, however, did pick up the defibrillator, screamed "CLEAR!" and picked up where Nirvana left off, magnificently so might I add. So why are The Killers putting the shotgun back into the mouth of a beautiful thing?
Killer= -1000
Strokes= (Infinity x Infinity)^2
i just want to party
well then, just make sure to party exclusively with cool, cigarette-smokers that take good pictures.
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