| I will still defend
that position, too, if I’m forced into a corner. I think that
most of the synthy instrumental bands that shot up like weeds in the
wake of Millions Now Living Will Never Die were instrumental
bands mainly for one of two reasons: first, they saw that Tortoise
was getting the full pedicure from the press and they wanted a piece
of that action for themselves, and second, they were too cowardly
to write lyrics. Writing lyrics takes balls
not because of any of that hokum about people baring their souls or
anything -- who could care? -- but because lame song lyrics announce
themselves boldly to the world, gleaming like emeralds in a urinal,
defeating the “but-that’s-just-your-opinion” subjectivists
ten at a time with their plain, stinking badness. Take away the lyrics,
and the that’s-just-your-opinion crowd come back in through the
door single file, bestowing laurels on all kinds of yawn-producing
navel-gazery because you can’t prove that it’s not actually
brilliant. Responding directly to Millions Now Living, itself
not a quarter as good as everybody seemed to think it was, hundreds
of shmoes trucked on down to the pawn shop and bought up dozens of
Rolands and Prophet Ones, questing annoyingly for that warm analog
sound. Bah, humbug, said I, and I retreated into my cave. |