Indie rock fans are an interesting breed. While rap and electronic music steadfastly push forward progression (at least lately), indie rock circa 2012 rarely produces anything substantial that doesn’t mine nostalgia for the near past. Whether its Cloud Nothings and Jimmy Eat World, The Men and the Replacements, or Yuck and every band in the 1993 MTV Buzz Bin, critical acclaim is often how well you synthesize the teen favorites of the average indie critic between the ages of 27 and 40. A lot of Pavement never hurt no one.
If you don’t rock a retro Sub Pop pin, you might be dumbfounded at what passes for the cream of the crop of contemporary indie rock. Sure, great bands like Grizzly Bear get lavish acclaim, but then they’re on Warp — an electronic label. More often, we receive polite recreations of a once-great vanished era and are told that this is the new-new, when in fact, it’s the same song (word to Shock G). To translate this to rap terms, this would be like if 9th Wonder had been the recipient of widespread critical adulation. Okay, that happened. But I think that the fact that no one bitched when we left him off even the Honorable Mentions of our Greatest Producer List means that we have all agreed to atone for our sins.
Don’t get me wrong. White Fence aren’t exactly reinventing the whammy bar. But I’m far more copacetic to this strain of Douglas Martin Music than most of the swill that passes for guitar-fed sustenance. Hell, I’d rather be Peg Bundy binging on Bon Bons than have to hear Bon Iver’s soft-voiced sibilance again (the first album was cool though).
White Fence frontman, Tim Presley, occasionally of Darker My Love, ditches the face-slapping hard psych of his old band for a kinder, gentler disorientation. I hear a little Revolver-era Beatles, some Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and a lot of early Kinks. You’d never guess that dude once backed The Fall. Is this objectively better than the other indie shit that I scorn? I’m not sure. It certain appeals more to my drug-addled instincts and it’s melodic and catchy. None of this is wildly original, so I suppose it’s a matter of what better soundtracks a spliff. As much as we want to pretend this shit is a science, it’s not. What you enjoy depends on what type of a person you are and what you think constitutes a pretty nice haircut. And if you think both sides are unnecessarily nostalgic, there’s always that Schoolboy Q record.
Download:
MP3: White Fence-”It Will Never Be”
MP3: White Fence- “I’ll Follow You”
MP3: White Fence- “Be Right Too”
8 comments
BMICHAEL says:
January 26, 2012 at 1:52 pm (UTC -7)
I was so freaking excited to listen to this, and then I did and… well. Your writing is a lot better than the music is.
Passion of the Weiss says:
January 26, 2012 at 4:56 pm (UTC -7)
I guess one out of two ain’t bad. Like I said, this isn’t ground-breaking by any stretch of the imagination but I still think it’s a very good psych-pop song.
douglas martin says:
January 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm (UTC -7)
a perfect writeup for both this song and the current state of indie-rock.
douglas martin says:
January 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm (UTC -7)
also: extra kudos for beating me to the punch on a white fence writeup.
zeroreference says:
January 26, 2012 at 5:43 pm (UTC -7)
“None of this is wildly original, so I suppose it’s a matter of what better soundtracks a spliff. As much as we want to pretend this shit is a science, it’s not.”
This is criminal – where are the musicologists??? Surely they’re online to defend themselves????
I think there is a space between spliff soundtracks and science. That’s where the humanities and critics (in the best and most creative sense of the word) live, and I’d argue that we need more people like that.
Whether one can get paid doing that is another question that you probably know the answer to better than I.
Dirty Merlin says:
January 27, 2012 at 1:57 am (UTC -7)
the first album was cool.
Tim Presley says:
January 27, 2012 at 3:02 am (UTC -7)
I think this is a great write up. i feel the same way about “the current state”. If i had to defend myself about any of this it would simply be that i personally am not too concerned about re-inventing the wheel. i really only care about a good song no matter what genre it leans to. for some reason/example i tend to like when a current hip hop artist uses a 80′s or 90′s hip hop sample (depending) . i even liked it when MIA used GhostRider by Suicide. or maybe i just liked the video, i forget. i suppose my “Funky Drummer” is the 60′s. If it were a science, then i’m out. Thinking too hard on being different or current, That will only lead to trying too hard, well, at leist for me personally. either way, good topic to tackle. Id like to read more. I guess what im trying to say is (For Me): it’s the EPMD vocal style that changed it, not the “more bounce to the ounce” Zapp sample. This is NOT a retort. I like this and Yr blog, and Douglas Martins eye for psyche. Just some subjective blog jammin’. wanna get high together?
Adam says:
February 3, 2012 at 10:36 am (UTC -7)
Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin are doing the same thing, but better. I know they’re all friends and contemporaries… Ty and Tim have a collaborative project coming out in the next few months – but either way this just isn’t as good as either one of those other guys. Not bad, just not as good. Everything you say here would be better suited for a Ty Segall write-up.