Photo via Timothy Norris
I waited all week to link to my Franz Ferdinand review over at LA Weekly. The idea was to write something in response to Maura’s request that “someone write a really funny and scathing critique of [hipster] culture, so often either rooted in stereotypes that are years and years old, or so obviously written from a personal “everyone but me sucks” perspective that it becomes completely incoherent.”
Instead, a friend came in from out of town and we’re probably going to spend the next several hours smoking joints, listening to Boosie and hitting up In-N-Out Burger and Amoeba Records. You understand–when in Los Angeles, etc. The point was that Franz Ferdinand are a really good band essentially ignored by fickle bloggers and critics because they had the temerity to release an instant-classic debut and become really popular. To me, the definition of hipster has always been someone who treated life as a trend, eschewing the notion that certain art and ideas can be indelible, regardless of how contemporary morays shift. The people who can somehow say things like, “that’s so 2004.” Or as a friend so aptly put it, “the same kids who wore skateboard clothes but never skateboarded.”
I’m not positing Franz Ferdinand as avatars of timelessness, but I think they write smart catchy songs and present complex ideas in a simple unpretentious manner. They’re the sort of band “hipsters” should embrace, but their KROQ and MTV airplay seems to preclude anyone from taking them seriously. Moreover, had their disco-ode to isolation “Live Alone,” been released prior to this year, I’m reasonably certain it could have salvaged several of my relationships. Some of us want more than just four walls and adobe slabs.
LA Weekly: Let Some Professionals Show You How It’s Done
Download:
MP3: Franz Ferdinand-“Live Alone”
MP3: Franz Ferdinand-“L. Wells”
