How a pop-punk girl group became the most hated band on TikTok: Tramp Stamps

I'll be honest, the name Tramp Stamps sounds like a fake band in a '90s prom movie. Also, I don't TikTok.

But this still fascinated me. I both find it somewhat heartening that kids still care about integrity in music, but I'm also a little dubious they do and really are just looking to snark.

Anyone not yelling at clouds have an opinion?

I also haven't listened to any of their music yet, but that's just because I'm on my phone now. When I'm at my PC I'll probably listen to something.

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/4/20/22392694/tramp-stamps-industry-plant-band-tiktok-dr-luke

Personally, I think the most punk thing Tramp Stamps could do is change their name to the Industry Plants and just really lean into it.

This would rule. If their manager or brand person is playing 5d chess they'd do this and kill it.

“the band version of Riverdale,”

that's pretty good

Every "industry plant" accusation I've noticed has been aimed at a (usually young) woman - Snail Mail, Clairo, Mitski, Frankie Cosmos, etc..

It seems silly with the context of this quote

“It’s almost like it’s a bunch of people who were like, theatre majors and shit who had rich parents and now they’re co-opting riot grrrl aesthetics that people literally dedicate their lives to for money,” he said in his video.

They sound like a Ke$ha, 100 Gecs and Sum 41 combo platter, I don't know how much more obvious it could be that they're just doing snotty pop music? It's not like a major label got someone to adopt the actual musical aesthetic of Bikini Kill to get streams (because that wouldn't work).

Pretty catchy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn-POduoKcA

I love how the songs seem lyrically designed to antagonize a certain type of listener. I don't normally like "novelty bands" but they've made me laugh out loud with every song of theirs I've heard so far.

Well that song basically sounds like The Offspring, so i'm not sure the people writing angry thinkpieces about them ripping off their beloved underground icons actually remember what Bikini Kill sound like, cos it ain't that.

tramp stamps is a funny name for a band -- sort of old fashioned, as i don't think those tattoos are popular anymore -- but the music is really awful

Every "industry plant" accusation I've noticed has been aimed at a (usually young) woman - Snail Mail, Clairo, Mitski, Frankie Cosmos, etc..

those artists are all in a *very* different league than this bullshit though...

anyone who's ever called mitski an industry plant needs their ears removed

First reaction to the two vids: this band are bad, but not bad in a new way, there is lots of other bad music that sounds / looks like this. Anyone offended by their use of punk / riot grrrl imagery should presumably have been equally offended by a load of other musicians over the last quarter of a century.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWIiyRPCc78

this has reminded me that The Faders "No Sleep Tonight" exists, thanks

they aren't even using riot grrl imagery at all, the guy quoted there doesn't even understand why the tik tok teens think it's cringe lol. like i have no idea whether they really are 'industry plants' but people are calling them that because their image comes across as pandering and in a really corny & out of touch way where like it feels like they're pandering to like... 2012 tumblr teens lol.

kind of amused that fantano of all the people quoted in that piece comes across the savviest.

Every "industry plant" accusation I've noticed has been aimed at a (usually young) woman - Snail Mail, Clairo, Mitski, Frankie Cosmos, etc..

eh i've only heard it for clairo and frankie cosmos and that's bc both have family connections - frankie cosmos has famous actor parents of course and clairo's dad is a marketing exec whose connections reportedly helped her get signed, but only after she already had a huge viral hit that industry connections couldn't have deliberately engineered if they wanted to, and major labels were interested in her outside of her dad's connections. both of those are just cases where 'successful' indie musicians tend to skew towards having richer parents because that gives you a huge leg up just in terms of having the time to spend on your art etc.

the industry plant term has been leveled at dozens of male rappers (female ones too, to be fair)

yeah it's super common in rap

I think the thing with Mitski is less industry plant and more her dad is probably a CIA scumbag

yeah the last person i remember referring to as an industry plant was travis scott

this band reminds me of the pale waves album i love from this year, so i don’t understand ... almost any of the controversy

lol i'd been thinking of making that comparison except the pale waves album is actually good and doesn't make me feel embarrassed for them

I've seen the term Industry Plant thrown at Khalid as well.

Also I feel like I only ever hear this term applied to American acts, whereas with British ones it's just "wealthy art school kids".

I'm considering starting a band called Ficus of Industry now

"wealthy art school kids".

― MarkoP, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 7:18 AM (forty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

oops, forgot that i’ve definitely referred to king princess as an industry plant

lol DJP.

I saw their response statement quoted on twitter, looked at the replies, and realized I had no idea what the context was and didn't really care to find out

pic.twitter.com/0gKdLUqxuH

— TRAMP STAMPS (@trampstamps) April 17, 2021

Just...Why are they referring to themselves as "Girlbosses?" Why call themselves something that's only used by people hustling MLMs?

ugh at blaming "cancel culture" in the first sentence

"she will quite literally sleep with anyone" = um wot?!

"FUCK THE HATERS - WE MADE THIS TERRIBLE MUSIC BY OURSELVES!"

come back, Kitty Pryde; all is forgiven

frank kogan must love this

I like how their statement dodges the bigger issue - that they are working with Dr. Luke

are they?

yes the RX Songs mentioned in that post is Dr. Luke's company

yeah but it's a publishing company, he doesn't work on their music. the statement actually does address that

as pointed out in the worst music thread the Dr. Luke connection has been really overstated.

two out of three members have publishing deals with the publishing company Prescription Songs, which Dr. Luke owns. however, it has publishing deals with a lot of prominent pop songwriters, like "Don't Start Now" was written by songwriters under Prescription Songs for example, and people aren't up in arms about that. it is bleak that he owns such a company though

the band has a distribution deal with AWAL (artists without a label), which is owned by Kobalt Music Group (though a sale to Sony is pending), which Dr. Luke owns shares in but doesn't seem to be a prominent figure wrt it or anything. this is not 'being signed to Dr. Luke's label' as has been reported all over the place

the fact that one of them is 29 actually makes me understand a bit more why the tiktok teens have it out for this group lol

there's a lot of truth in what they wrote, most of the tik toks that started this controversy lacked basic critical thinking skills and pretty much all of the articles written about this had a poor understanding of how the music industry works. if they were guys there would never have been a controversy about how "real" they are bcuz ppl would've just grasped the artifice inherently -- there was no similar controversy when 5 seconds of summer came out, for instance. everyone just understood, "well this is a boy band heavily borrowing from the aesthetics and sound of rock music to make mainstream pop music, we all get what's going on here. this music may not be for me but i'm aware of the fact that this is not trying to be 'real' music." the whole notion that tramp stamps are trying to pass themselves off as something they're not is based on the premise that to be a female rock band you have to be "authentic" and serious and indie which is if not sexist itself than is at least rooted in simple patriarchal aspects of our society.

of course plenty of ppl will think their music is corny and there's no way for them to really address this in a note, but lots of ppl find lots of pop music corny and go on about their days. the weekend does michael jackson cosplay, dua lipa does studio 54 cosplay, nobody really cares bcuz they understand that pop stars exist to synthesize culture and sell it back to us in a way that is very often over the top, sometimes corny, but that's the job description. tramp stamps play guitars tho so it's become a whole other thing.

in reality, you only get signed to a publishing deal if you can actually write songs. if you can't write songs there is no point in somebody owning part of your publishing bcuz you only get paid publishing for writing songs. so even the aspect of their backstory that kicked off the "industry plant" narrative explains why if you look at the credits of their music, it's just the three ppl in the band who are listed. but ppl don't seem to be able to come to terms w/ the idea that three women might choose of their own volition to write glossy corny pop punk music for mainstream consumption and not "real" respectable rock music

of course plenty of ppl will think their music is corny and there's no way for them to really address this in a note, but lots of ppl find lots of pop music corny and go on about their days. the weekend does michael jackson cosplay, dua lipa does studio 54 cosplay, nobody really cares bcuz they understand that pop stars exist to synthesize culture and sell it back to us in a way that is very often over the top, sometimes corny, but that's the job description. tramp stamps play guitars tho so it's become a whole other thing.

That makes sense. I also wonder though if part of it is that the specific signifiers they're synthesizing are from currently young people's childhoods (or at least much more recent and somewhat niche)? Like MJ and Studio 54 are ancient and mass history now, but referencing tumblr and sk8r bois obviously is going to look a lot more like pandering to kids in their late teens or w/e

J0rdan OTM

The one part of this whole thing that still confuses me is trying to understand how them singing about whiskey dick is "promoting rape culture".

I think I can guess that argument but it's pretty tenuous.

That makes sense. I also wonder though if part of it is that the specific signifiers they're synthesizing are from currently young people's childhoods (or at least much more recent and somewhat niche)? Like MJ and Studio 54 are ancient and mass history now, but referencing tumblr and sk8r bois obviously is going to look a lot more like pandering to kids in their late teens or w/e

― rob, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 1:23 PM (fifty-three seconds ago)

there's def an aspect of ppl bristling against their culture being commodified -- in this case the culture is posting memes about how men are trash. i'm not saying tramp stamps are beyond criticism in how they're going about their careers. but it got taken to this whole other level where a narrative was started that they were created by a major label and planted into pop culture when there's no evidence of that being the case. the idea of a lou pearlman figure was invented out of thin air ... meanwhile the same ppl who hate that tumblr culture is being sold back to them also love backstreet boys, n sync etc, groups actually created by lou pearlman. tramp stamps are basically saying, you can call us corny but at least grant us our agency here, and i think that's a valid point

I liked their songs already, but I definitely like them more after reading all of this...

instead of shitting on media for getting it wrong we should be celebrating tik tok kids for seeing through bullshit also this music sucks shit but of course ilx ppl like it

I mean, their entire aesthetic screams American Pie 2 soundtrack pop-punk.

J0rdan S. at 11:50 21 Apr 21

yeah but it's a publishing company, he doesn't work on their music. the statement actually does address that

this is not a meaningful distinction to me

instead of shitting on media for getting it wrong we should be celebrating tik tok kids for seeing through bullshit also this music sucks shit but of course ilx ppl like it

^^^

.... seeing through bullshit, ok

seems like they came up with a bunch of additional bullshit instead

J0rdan S. at 11:50 21 Apr 21

yeah but it's a publishing company, he doesn't work on their music. the statement actually does address that

this is not a meaningful distinction to me

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, April 21, 2021 2:12 PM (seven minutes ago)

nonetheless, it is a meaningful distinction

My go-to “if I must” fast food meal is McD’s Filet-O-Fish (no cheese) + fries.

https://media1.tenor.com/images/59b27ca5bec26bd13e8d556ffde3aecc/tenor.gif?itemid=11806789

xxpost They're probably more like "fast casual." Even Culver's around here, you order at the counter but then you sit down and wait.

I love Five Guys (xp but can't speak for how the ex-US version may be!)

When I worked in Manhattan there was a Five Guys a few blocks away from my office, so I'd eat there once every couple of weeks. Good but yes, overpriced (and overpraised).

The Wendy's near my apartment went drive-thru only at the beginning of the pandemic, so I haven't eaten there in over a year. They were my favorite fast food place by far. I haven't eaten in McDonald's in over 25 years; the last time I went to one, the food made me ill and I ran outside and threw up in the gutter, clearly visible through the restaurant's giant picture window.

I go to White Castle about once a year, too.

Secret to Five Guys is to order the single patty, where the meat to bun ratio is in better balance than the default double patty.

Secret to White Castle is to be really drunk and hungry, ideally with a group, to get the maximum emotional impact from ordering several dozen burgers at once.

I've never had (or lived near) White Castle - though in my bachelor days I would sometimes buy the frozen microwave version of their burgers (which I liked, though I'm sure they took a few years off my life).

Yeah, the key to not feeling disgustingly full at Five Guys is the single patty and ordering the smallest order of fries, neither of which are default.

The smallest order of Five Guys fries could still fill up a kindergarten class.

Sometimes in the before times I'd be thrifty and bypass their fries for the free peanuts.

Their fries are so good, man

The smallest order of Five Guys fries could still fill up a kindergarten class.

Tbf, it is called Five Guys.

single patty and ordering the smallest order of fries

^this is true, btw - all u need for a single serving

My go-to “if I must” fast food meal is McD’s Filet-O-Fish (no cheese) + fries.

― smoking grass, poor caddying. (morrisp), Monday, April 26, 2021 4:53 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago)

something about that "no cheese" is making me feel insane

it's only a half slice as well

Oh, it's not a "health" thing, just a preference. Fish + American cheese don't go together in my mind (or on my palate, I guess!)

However, American cheese is a great bait for *catching* fish. And so goes the circle of life.

tbf childhood hatred of fish + adult vegetarianism* means I've never eaten a FOF with or without cheese

* full disclosure: I will eat fish/seafood if my refusal to do so would otherwise ruin everyone else's good time, but this does not apply to McD's

There's something delicious about it to me, with that spongy bun...

Most of McD's fare is pretty low-quality, but that doesn't work against the FoF for me somehow.

when I did eat meat (i.e., when I was 16), I thought the McD cheeseburger bun was one of the greatest inventions in technological history

Their fries are so good, man

― smoking grass, poor caddying. (morrisp), Monday, April 26, 2021 2:18 PM

i must agree. there's a five guys down the street from the office, so in the before times (thx for the term blue whales!) we had french fry fridays. i'd go down there and just order like six portions of fries for everybody and the office would just be a pure vibe on friday afternoons.

couple other sidebars: mcdonald's was my first job. worked there for about eight months during end of junior year into the summer before senior year of high school. i was 17. i think i've had maybe an order of fries or a milkshake since i quit. i'm 40 now. yeah.

anybody wanna weigh in on jack in the box? i have some thoughts, but i'll abstain for now.

I have this vague memory of Jack in the Box getting busted for selling kangaroo meat in the '80s.

Oof, it was a little worse than that:

In 1981, horse meat labeled as beef was discovered at a Foodmaker plant that supplied hamburger and taco meat to Jack in the Box. The meat was originally from Profreeze of Australia, and during their checks on location, the food inspectors discovered other shipments destined for the United States which included kangaroo meat.

Junk in the Box just seems nasty to me, I wouldn't touch it.

Carl's Jr. is actually tolerable, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Love a good hot Carl

That horse meat story reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Simpsons gags: when the meat at Krusty Burger is revealed to be "Mostly Zoo Animals, Some Filler".

or the ribwich, which is made out of something that is probably an insect; an insect which has now been made extinct by the ribwich. circle of life indeed.

so on a lunch run during my junior year of high school, some friends and i decided to hit jack's for tasty fried vittles. we ordered in the drive-thru, got our stuff, parked, and were chowing down.

suddenly, a strange whimper came from the back seat.

in my buddy's curly fries? well yep, that's a deep fried roach, friend.

How did it taste?

We once took a tour of the Vienna Beef plant here, and after years of jokes and rumors were shocked at how clean and simple the whole hot dog process was.

Clean and simple from our perspective, I should add. If I were a cow I would probably offer a different opinion.

I'll sometimes choose a (Hebrew National) dog over a burger of uncertain provenance, b/c I trust the dog more.

what even is this thread now haha

I confess that I do appreciate that Tramp Stamps' raison d'être as a musical act (outside of providing them an income) is to troll incels.

"Incels In Taco Bells": Next Tramp Stamps single

I cant believe there is a food place called sheetz. Did i read it right? Because aw nah. Nope.

“Why have other food when you can have sheetz”?

Incels
Taco Bells
Crippling mankind

The rare fast food experience that *starts* with sheetz.

I cant believe there is a food place called sheetz. Did i read it right? Because aw nah. Nope.

― Hunt3r, Monday, April 26, 2021 4:20 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

there's a small local soup and sandwich chain here called "liquids and solids" which, it can't just be me, makes me think of piss and shit

Sheetz is vile Wawa rules.

Xpost def not just you. Would never eat there

Perversely it now feels like a challenge to do it just to survive. Where is this joint?

I want a T-shirt that says “I ate sheetz”

Perversely it now feels like a challenge to do it just to survive. Where is this joint?

what even is this thread now haha

― octobeard, Monday, April 26, 2021 4:06 PM

uhh the best thing currently going on the internet

Jack n the box >>>>>>> 5 guys

love their E Coli Double

"I'd rather die
than have another double patty at Five Guys"

Jack in the Box chicken sandwiches are pretty dope tbh ... not as good as Popeye's, but my local JitB is like open 24 hours almost?

I just listened to this finally and it sounds like basically anything in this thread 00's girl-fronted radio-pop songs that sounds like pop-punk/power-pop/blondie

if yahoo groups didn't get killed I'm sure you could find a bunch of teenagers outraged at the existence of, idk, lillix or something

Where I grew up (in SE PA) I don't remember Sheetz, though of course Wawa was everything. I'm not even sure we had a 7-11 around, which means I may have missed out on Slurpees (is that possible?), but I sure as hell didn't miss out on Krimpets and Kandy Kakes.

Btw, the first two TikTok-only EPs from Krimpets and Kandy Kakes were pretty solid, though a little too slick for supposedly "indie" acts. I smell a rat. And I'm not talking about the last time I ate at Taco Bell.

I think the Susquehanna River is the Sheetz/Wawa demilitarized zone.

And the Delaware the dividing line for scrapple?