Friday, March 03, 2006

The Young Ones - Era of Hopeful Monsters




The Young Ones Era of Hopeful Monsters 7" (Punk Before Profits, 2000)

My pet peeve regarding 90s punk isn't Green Day making it big. It isn't mosh metal hoodies making terrible noise. It isn't even ska-punk. Nah the thing I hated about the 90s punk scene was the overuse and misuse of the word "kids." I guess I could go back 30 years and blame Sham 69, but for 30 year olds referring to themselves as kids?

Nah, that is a 90s thing. Whether punkers want to admit it or not, the "kids" fixation is just another facet of American youth worship, uhhh actually American youthfulness worship. Between you and me, Americans really don't like kids. They might say they are doing all these wonderful things like the War on Terror and the War on Drugs for the children, but it is just cover. Americans hate kids. Even the Americans who refer to themselves as kids hate kids. They hate kids because kids remind them of a time when they didn't have to work or pay bills or get in adult fights with your wife or see a therapist or look in the mirror and say "Okay, now what?" They look at kids as being carefree and full of play. But it is all bullshit. Ask a kid, what it is like being a kid and that kid will tell you it sucks and they can't wait to grow up. "Stay a kid," you plead and they look at you like you are crazy.

Take the Young Ones here. These Young Ones are not to be confused with the Japanese band of the same name, as Our Subjects For Today are from Ellicottville, New York, which I believe is Upstate. For these kids, life sucks. Want proof? Listen to them, "Right now I'm living hell / All the good things seem to repel / Open my eyes and lower my head / All that I see is civilized dead / 17 years of life down the drain / Nothing will ever change / Nothing is adoring / I'll be damned I'm born with a story."

And don't think these guys are fooling around. According to Ryan, the guy that put out this record, "I think the one thing about this band that I really love is the true love for music they have, and how honest and true they live their lives. I sat in on a couple of practices, and the heart alone fills the room. Alex doesn't even use a mic he just screams the words. Jesse plays the bass with all his head, and even if Steve never talks you know he loves what he is doing."

Chuckle if you must, but these kids really do mean what they sing. And as sloppy and haphazard as their songs are, do believe that every note is played with passion. Alex might think his 17 years are little more than "civilized dead" and that he is living in hell, but his misery is full of so much life and so much youth that it is enough to make someone like Dick Cheney start a war just to kill him off.

This record is all about youth and youthfulness and being a real kid. It has much charm and, as Ryan told us, a hell of a lot of heart. And for you cynical fucks: Only 250 made. --SS




// posted by W/S @ 12:01 AM
Comments:
yeah, that's it; dick cheney started a war, 'cause he's scared of the KIDS, man!!
..then Clinton's bombing of the Serbs and the Sudanese must've been for the same reason.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 11:46 AM
 
Can you PLEASE add that Clinton lied???

Why must you conservative assholes always think that because someone is anti-Bush/Cheney, they are pro Clinton? And if you idiots insist on a neg comment on Clinton must happen when there is a neg comment on Bush, may I have permission to go back and make neg comments about Bush I, Carter, Reagan, Nixon, LBJ, etc.?? Man, that Vietnam War was fucking unjust. Get your head out of your ass.
-SS
# posted by Blogger W/S : 12:39 PM
 
...all that aside, why soil the info on this page with late nite poltical humor?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8:59 PM
 
...because we can.
# posted by Blogger W/S : 9:10 PM
 
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