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"As long as the Husker Du sound never gets revived, I don't give a flying fuck where music goes. If these indie rock bastards made me stop listening to my favorite band (because they tried to sound l

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Actual recent quote from ILM.

Do people honestly have bands "ruined" for them just because said band gets a namecheck in a hipster meme for a given year or two?

I'm asking honestly! There might be a totally rational explanation for it. Usually (and i stress "usually"), if a band is being cited as an influence, they were strong enough in the first place such that their music will eventually outlive the imitators; hence, I can't see how a bunch of bands, all of a sudden, trying to imitate my favorite band will change the original band's output and make it unlistenable. The idea of that sounds really weird to me!

But perhaps I'm alone? What's the operative word here?

(In the case of Hüsker Dü, wasn't this the early 90s, basically?)

― donut ferry (donut), Monday, 25 July 2005 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Well this was my quote, so let me be the first to comment.

The obvious example here is Gang of Four. When I came across Gang of Four three or so years ago (I'm only 17 so forgive me for not being a "longtime fan") they sounded fresh, innovative, and were above all, fun to listen to. Entertainment was one of my most listened-to albums of the time, and I couldn't quite find anyone that sounded JUST like them...there were people who were of course influenced by them, but nothing over-the-top in its obviousness.

Now, whenever I turn on the TV or radio, there's a 90% chance that I'm going to hear a band using a dance/disco beat (i.e. bass drum kicks as quarter notes) with some form of jangly guitars over top and a vocalist imitating Mark E. Smith or David Byrne. When I listen to Entertainment now, it doesn't sound fresh...it just sounds boring. It sounds like every other band that has taken that sound and made it into complete shit, and it's just not fun to listen to anymore. I'm absolutely sick of hearing it.

I hope that made sense. Surely others must feel the same way (I can't be the only one, can I?)

― Christian, Monday, 25 July 2005 01:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe you just need a break from their music to hear it with fresh ears again. It's like the Beatles. I used to listen to them like crazy when I was in my teens but then I took a break which meant when I heard them randomly I thought, yeah this is the shit. And then I wanted and needed to hear them again, listening again to less obvious stuff like the White Album. This has been my relationship with the Beatles for a few years now - I can always go back to them. I was in a shop today and they were rocking the BLue compilation and it was so great - I Am The Walrus etc. I knew these songs off by heart and they felt so right.
Great art should withstand the mediocre imitators. Gang Of Four sounds amazing to me no matter how much they're ripped off. I think you need to relax and just enjoy music, rather than worry about whether stuff is played out.

― Stew (stew s), Monday, 25 July 2005 01:15 (twenty-one years ago)

taking a break from something definitely helps, i've learned.

― latebloomer: lazy r people (latebloomer), Monday, 25 July 2005 01:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I's sick of all the Go4 wannabes, too. but dude, i don't see how that affects your appreciation of said band. None of these faker bands have beats or guitar lines anywhere near as clever or distinct as gang of four, much less the spark and sophistication of the lyrics. and the only new band i can think of who's basslines start to compare is Liars. It's not just the style that makes gang of four so great, it's how they executed it.

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Monday, 25 July 2005 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

i can't think of a gang of four song with a 4/4. am i forgetting something really obvious??

husker du's real children are all the avril/matrix girl pop rocker types. before you cry PABULUM, i don't think this isn't a fuzzy case of "influence" but real actual hearable songwriting practice: the modal droney open string/pedal point space-filling stuff (more cleanly done in sugar i guess) is at the center of all those songs. i think the goo goo dolls are probably the middle link to the wider world here. maybe i'm nuts but the line seems pretty clear.

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:15 (twenty-one years ago)

er "i don't think this IS a fuzzy case"

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:34 (twenty-one years ago)

i can't think of a gang of four song with a 4/4. am i forgetting something really obvious??

This was really, really, really hilarious to me before I figured out what you meant. (And even after that, "I Love A Man In A Uniform".)

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:35 (twenty-one years ago)

haha oh yeah they "went disco" at the end there didn't they. controversially, i hear!

and i can't think of how that could be misread to be that funny! que?

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I only ever heard Entertainment, but aren't just about all of their songs in 4/4?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Because almost every G4 I can think of is in 4/4! Then I realized you mean't housey/discoey dance beat and the stars aligned.

(xpost Tim OTM)

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe we need to put a "music educated time signature 4/4 vs. four-on-the-floor disco 4/4" thing in the faq!

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 25 July 2005 02:47 (twenty-one years ago)

4/4 = kick drums hits all four accents each measure

..not the time signature, although it has that time signature by default.

Again, I can only think of "To Hell With Poverty" qualifying off the top of my head.. there are definitely a few more, but even "I Love A Man.." isn't a disco/house 4/4 beat.. nor is even "Is This Love?" from what I can remember from it.

― donut ferry (donut), Monday, 25 July 2005 03:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I think about 99.79% of Western pop/rock music uses a 4/4 time signature.. I'd hate to have someone not being able to listen to any 4/4 time signature music anymore just because there were too many bad bands using it. ("AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGGH! NOW I CAN ONLY LISTEN TO DON CABALLERO AND ACCORDIAN WALTZES! I AM IN HEEEEEEELLLLLL!!!")

― donut ferry (donut), Monday, 25 July 2005 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)

>i think the goo goo dolls are probably the middle link to the wider world here.<

Not to mention Soul Asylum (who pretty much everybody pegged as a Replacements/Husker hybrid when they first came out). And, um, Nirvana.

― xhuxk, Monday, 25 July 2005 03:14 (twenty-one years ago)

99 PERCENT OF THE BANDS G04 INFLUENCE ARE BETTER THAN G04 THEMSELVES

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 25 July 2005 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

nice try.

― yuengling participle (rotten03), Monday, 25 July 2005 05:05 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah chuck but johnny rzzzznik (sp) was/is the closest to bob mould's roger-mcguinn-for-dummies style. not that the girl pop punkers don't love nirvana, but i don't think many of those songs sound like nirvana

dr. bill that's a funny thing to shout into a crowded theater but i still don't think many bands have been actually "influenced" by Go4 at all! they may say so but the practice just doesn't bear it out.

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 25 July 2005 05:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i dunno; i always thought that the Goo goo dolls were more openly worshipful of westerberg, esp. with the last coupla Mats albums.

― kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 25 July 2005 05:56 (twenty-one years ago)

None of these faker bands have beats or guitar lines anywhere near as clever or distinct as gang of four

I don't see how this statement can possibly hold up. I mean, Gang of Four were a great band, but there were many other great post punk bands at the time and there are many great bands now. There are so many bands right now influenced by them who have lots of great songs, hooks, etc. (some of them even catchier/better etc!).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 25 July 2005 06:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I think there's been a tendency to describe any fairly melodic band who play distorted guitars as having a Husker Du influence. I can't see it, that whole "melodic hardcore" (and later, emo) movement never even came close to the rawness of the Husker Du sound, they're pretty unique in my book.

― bg (creamolafoam), Monday, 25 July 2005 07:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Green Day's "Welcome to Paradise" could not possibly sound more like a Husker Du homage if Mould or Hart had sang it.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 25 July 2005 09:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Spandau Ballet were better than Gang of Four anyway.

― The Jive Session (elwisty), Monday, 25 July 2005 10:05 (twenty-one years ago)

could we just stop making threads about Gang Of Four.

would that be ok?

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Monday, 25 July 2005 10:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Matos. Yeah, I can hear the influence, but the sound just isn't the same. It sounds like a Husker Du song played by an over-rehearsed bar band. It's the whole Bob Mould guitar sound I think has never been emulated, there was an element of chaos in his playing that I don't think Green Day can even come close to.

― bg (creamolafoam), Monday, 25 July 2005 10:19 (twenty-one years ago)

It's the whole Bob Mould guitar sound I think has never been emulated

I dunno, "Somebody to Shove" has always sounded like a pretty heavy Bob Mould rip to me. I think Soul Asylum's a more logical intro point of HD sounds into the mainstream than the Goo Goo Dolls, who sound more like the Replacements IMO.

(And actually now that I think about it, even Bob didn't do the chaos thing much post NDR. The last few HD albums are very controlled noise-wise, and Sugar's got a bit of it but it's generally pretty clean.)

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd welcome the return of the Husker Du sound, personally.


Spandau Ballet were better than Gang of Four anyway.

I'd have you flayed alive for this comment, but the sad truth of the matter is that my wife would agree with you.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

It's hard, when you're in the moment, NOT to resent your heroes for spawning legions of inferiors. But once all this dancepunk garbage blows over, I'm still going to be amazed at the way "Ether" kicks back in toward the end, and I'm still going to be figuring out how they got the spoken and sung portions of "Anthrax" so on cue.

Don't let the hipsters ruin the music that's precious to you. I know it's hard. Just don't let it happen. You're bigger than them.

― mike a, Monday, 25 July 2005 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

hahaha sweet jesus

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Any chance someone could find an old-time blues enthusiast and bring them on-thread so they can bitch about what the Rolling Stones did to their music?

― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm still going to be figuring out how they got the spoken and sung portions of "Anthrax" so on cue.

Er... multitracking was figured out at least 50 years ago, if not earlier.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, yeah it's a cool effect but it's not rocket science.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 25 July 2005 12:56 (twenty-one years ago)

It's physics!

― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 25 July 2005 13:07 (twenty-one years ago)

The problem I have with the getting-completely-out-of-hand Gang of Four comparisons is that I just don't believe most of these new bands actually sleep with Entertainment! under their pillows. Yeah, I know Andy Gill produced Bloc Party, but that was probably due to the fact that somebody with the label thought it'd be a good match. And do you think Franz Ferdinand sounds like anything Go4 did?

I don't get it. I think there's just a movement towards a dancey,scatchy,funky sound that's completely independent of intense adoration and conscious aping of Go4.

― PB, Monday, 25 July 2005 13:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I was just about to add something similar: saying bands "want to be Gang of Four" now happens with about a thousand times the regularity of said bands actually sounding -- or trying to sound -- that much like Gang of Four! Talk about trends. I'd find it more "true" if you told me most of these bands were trying to sound like Duran Duran or XTC or Adorable, but that's not where our shorthand is right now.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 25 July 2005 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I'mm still waiting for someone to duplicate the solo Belinda Carlisle sound. Maybe Annie or Natasha Bedenfield will.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 25 July 2005 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

People need to start aping pre-Go Bang! Shriekback.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 25 July 2005 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

People need to start aping pre-Go Bang! Shriekback.

Yeah buddy!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 25 July 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

No fucking way! They make the oringinal sound Xx better. I go to and indie club where I have to suffer a lot of ropey Go4 influenced stuff. But when they play "Ether" I fucking explode.

― Ben Dot (1977), Monday, 25 July 2005 23:31 (twenty-one years ago)


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