Congrats Dude!

you kids are gonna make it!

hahahaha

I'm glad I've finally found out the band that No Bikes is in!

I thought he came off pretty douchey in a lot of his posts, but now that I know that he is in Howler, I have new found respect!

die die die die die die die die die

no voytek? dang shoulda had no bikes in the band

everything that flows from you is art. to me. love u.

get the strokes to post here

that was to no bikes.

i'm pretty sure you could fit the entirety of howler into one pair of my pants

do u not love me?

yeah get that frizzy haired guy from the strokes to post here

it's cute you buy pants big enough to fit all your band mates in.

i like the screamo artwork in the background of yr cryspace

i heart IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEWer.

I remember all of the members of Lady Hard-on fitting into one pair of pants. That was pretty great.

haha good thread. would read again.

I can't believe someone whose band is on Rough Trade Records posts on our very own local message board! What's Geoff Travis like?

his dick is huge

i just turned on Howler's myspace and someone walked up and asked if it was Keith Urban.

Who's Howler? Are they a Sunny Afternoon records band?

Howler is No Bikes' band.

who the fuck is no bikes

Howler is some guys from Nice Purse and no bikes?

if i had a dollar for every time someone on this board has asked if i was seth i could eat at wise acre every night for a week

wait, sseth isn't in Howler.

Howler is No Bikes' band.

Ahh...So No Bikes runs Sunny Afternoon records. Does Treehaus know this?

wait what is wise acre?

is that sseth's restaurant?

sometimes people also ask if i'm "doug"

i don't know these seth and doug guys are they cool

both sseth and doug are awesome dudes.

says a dick...

dicks know dudes. always have, always will.

my girlfriend is having people over for board games and pumpkin cupcakes on monday maybe i should invite them

that rough trade money buys some nice designer cupcakes i bet

hey, i really like sseth and im pretty renowned for being a nice guy who used to constantly use homophobic slurs

don't forget yr racism w/r/t melt-banana

Seems like this place is ripe with pepperfacery.

no bikes did some rough demos of what would eventually be Howler songs.
good stuff.

mr. tears
10/18/11 3:21 PM

don't forget yr racism w/r/t melt-banana

This reminds me of a certain roommate who claimed the Japanese are the most vile culture to walk the erffs.

Guilty. Though I didn't say vile. I just said the most xenophobic and judgemental (in my extensive encounters with the culture). Well, sure.

hahahahahaha. My memory is a silly machine.

People in town love to support something once it is nationally recognized but have no problem ignoring it until that point. I'm not necessarily speaking of folks on this board but more with the general public here. It's a bummer because there is a ton of stuff that is grossly overlooked.

Are you referring to the Japanese?

haha

i also had no idea what tom was referring to

oh god this is really going to turn into a thread about howler and people are seriously going to think that i am in howler god damn it

now i get it. it's like that time I only started going to STNNG shows after I saw them on the Today Show

I haven't lived in MPLS for nearly two years and I totally thought you were in Howler. Shows how often I read this board.

no bikes, i love those pants you have on in the video. where did u get them

I heard that piggy always demanded separate bathrooms whenever Vampire Hands played with Birthday Suits.

Your girlfriend's gonna be pissed when she finds out you've been hiding that Rough Trade money from her.

those people

so no bikes, is the earlier howler stuff more chillwave? I can't seem to find this purloined trojan hrsey anywhere...

chillgarage

Charage

chillrage

no bikes?

a designer cupcake fueled chillrage

yes loxosceles that is the website where you can buy the record by my band

Oh, are you jbrooks too?

FUCKING COME ON, JUST PLAY CRAZY IN LOVE YOU LOSERS

it's not 'howler', it's 'Howler' with a capital H

It says colour instead of color on the howler album on that acephale page. Is that on purpouse?

i'm canadian

jayz is on livecurrent apparently..

i'm listening to the new beyonce now no bikes

i'm not feeling it that much

too many slow jams

tbh i wasn't really into it either

i know a lot of people are hella buggin on countdown but i just can't really get into it

only song i really like is best thing i never had

that was one of the highlights

it was good to hear andre 3000 rap, he never does anything anymore

kanye is retarded - "she got swag, she's drippin' swag-goo" wtf are you talking about?

I though no bikes was of the female variety.

thought that track was pretty bad

andre 3000 features are always really nice surprises when they happen

i've always kind of hated big boi as a solo artist and i sort of take the fact that andre 3000 features are highly coveted by current rappers and no one ever tries to get one from big boi as validation of my point of view

What's her problem?

really? i think big boi's half of love below is great

he's a good rapper, i like most of lucious leftfoot

but andre is a more...um...special talent for lack of a better word

this "let's start over" song at least has a good hook

Sir Luscious Leftfoot was the only rap album that came out in the past 4-5 years that I liked.

luscious left foot was an infuriating listen for me

he's only capable of rapping about two things: how great his lyrics are, and not wanting to pay child support

it constantly irritated me how the hooks were mostly meaningless and on tracks like you ain't do dj where the hook is actually saying something, his verses had absolutely nothing to do with it, like his songwriting skills are nonexistent and that was such a huge part of what made outkast work

he was constantly throwing out what sound like shots at jeezy on that album and it bothered me because jeezy is a great example of the kind of conceptual integrity and economical songwriting that i feel were missing from SLLF

also he gives his album this ridiculous title "sir luscious left foot - the son of chico dusty" and never bothers to mention who chico dusty is or why we should care or what the fucking point of the name is

also he seems like kind of a creep

Wasn't Big Boi's half called Speaker Boxxx?

speaker box was better than SLLF but i think the good tracks from the love below and "ghettomusick" are still the only things really worth saving from that set

donny, I started my response earlier but it was mostly just talking about how Picked to Click is the same every year and in regards to Howler, if they get picked to click it is because they have a national presence due to the signing of Rough Trade. Everyone loves the "local band got big" story when it means they got signed to a "big" label.

will Howler be attempting to get an andre 3000 feature on the next album?

toilet covered 'hey ya' on a new blues album.

it's really terrible.

DID YOU KNOW that big boi recently finished recording a collaboration with modest mouse

I still need that toilet tape loxo!

step up from whatever horrible rock band had the hook on that one song on sir lucious leftfoot

which i liked overall, but don't listen to a ton anymore

but i don't know about jeezy shots, not i could discern but i wasn't listening with that idea

outkast never really seemed to beef w/people that much overall

man i love that "hey ya" song!

also he seems like kind of a creep

Saw him at pitchfork fest last year, he was basically begging girls to show their boobs, and it was really, really weird and awkward. Although the other rap act I saw that weekend, can't remember who right now, did the same, so that's an issue with rap more so than just big boi.

'best thing i never had' video is great so far..

Also, I'm having a very hard time taking any of no bikes' big boi criticisms seriously after what he said about Lil B in the pitchfork interview. I thought he was joking in the interview but he said he wasn't?

lil b is fucking fantastic

Great thread!

Its clear that Mary Lucia has no idea who the eff any of these people are.

mary lucia doesn't know who people are, people know who mary lucia is!

Well, except for Howler

everyone knows who no bike's band howler is, exception that proves the rule

man, it's cool that your singer guy got his braces taken off for the big tour. did he have those clear plastic braces on for the video? did rough trade pay for that?

Elite Braces

The Howler drummer's uncle is one of two people in my class at Washburn I would recognize today.

HOWLER

hertz doughnut
10/18/11 4:05 PM

I though no bikes was of the female variety.


Don't let that unholy board-persona union of Temple Grandin and Andrea Dworkin fool you.

that's probably the best compliment i've ever received

thanks for making the machine that hugged mpls music fans before they were slaughtered

I didn't mean it as an insult necessarily, that's just how you often read.

I give no bikes a lot of shit and don't find myself agreeing with him much, but damned if I haven't grown to appreciate his perspective on here, which he at least articulates well.

Andre 3000 had a guest verse on Carter 4. Not that good, though I'm not sure it was his fault. Bland beat. You can't build a beach house in a corn field.

No Bikes was absolutely right about whether you can call a new album "classic" or not in the gully jawns thread.

no he was wrong and i was right, but still i like his contributions to gully jawns

Where does one listen to Howler, anyway? All this internet hype is making me tingly.

i listened to a howler song once and realized it was probably pitched to rough trade as "odd future meets the strokes! they're all teenagers and there are rape jokes! it'll be huge!"

it's not for me

I thought you guys were clicking.

here's a song...reminds me of The Oranges Band kinda

I saw Oranges Band SO many unintentional times.

There's a Howler billboard up in my neighborhood in LA. Congrats to No Bikes. He's in that band right?

billboards: the blogs of the future

They give billboards to just anyone these days.

the dude sings like kn01 7a73.

Whao. He does. This Askeleton B-side is cool

also, this band has me howling with Zs.

Piggy you are a treasure

guys no bikes is sensitive keep it above the belt

Perhaps piggy's comparison will help Askeleton with the youngins. But perhaps the kids could be howling with Zs too?

I don't think they really sound like Askeleton, just vocally sim.

They sound like a swig of Nyquil in the middle of the road.

just a spoon full of sugar helpszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

myfatherisagreatman
12/28/11 12:54 AM
i keep asking this super bitchy girl i have met a couple times if she is "no bikes"

i think she hates me... WELL FUCK THAT BITCH.

and LOL YOU ARE IN HOWLER? who si that

smh.

Make it 2 Howler billboards up on Sunset in Silverlake.

the Classical posted this on Jun 02nd, 2006 at 09:58:54 am

they're no Steve Forbert!

here

has anyone seen howler? does the singer kid actually sound like that? it just doesn't seem to make sense to me.

i think this music is so generic and stinks, but good for you, HOWLER, for having that magic sound the kids love so much.

I like Nice Purse.

i don't care for the music at all, but the voice is what is has me perplexed, just doesn't seem like it could come out of that kid.

say what you will about the howler's music, but the artwork is literally the worst thing I've ever seen. How does a major label allow such a thing to be released?
weird
IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEW

howler will NOT be playing at glebfest (neither will elite gymnastics)

@chriscatschris

hahahahahahah holy shit!

it just looks like a stupid volcom t-shirt

god, that font is killing me

right?
target audience seems to be 13-17 yr olds from the burbs.

is the album titled "my first time using photoshop?"

"teenage misfits cover band from maple grove using MS paint for the first time"

so...anyone seen them live? they played a bill i did a poster for, but i did not see there set. the kids voice seems fake in the rolling stone music video thing.

ccc -- that is not the rought trade howler thing, but a self-released EP or something
I had the same sense of shock about that artwork myself, it seems like a parody almost

That artwork actually piqued my interest when I first saw it, precisely because of the Misfits-cover-band type of association. And because their one-sheet said "80s punk" on it.

Turned out to be indie rock :(

Jordan's voice is certainly perplexing but it's pretty Craig Finny in that he pretty much talks like that too.

Three Howler billboards on Sunset in my hood now. "America Give Up," they say.

all your woman now are machined by us

All yr howl are belong to us

I guess All Things Considered is going to do a piece on them in a few minutes.
The lead in was something like, "Local band Howler is blowing up in Great Britain, while not exactly
making a big splash around the block."
Yeesh.

Jordan's voice is certainly perplexing but it's pretty Craig Finny in that he pretty much talks like that too.

Aren't you, like, his friend or something? Why would you say such a mean thing about your friend?

no he meant that, like craig finn, his singing voice is the same as speaking voice

no I meant that calling anything Craig Finny, even if it is Craig Finny, is mean.

can you actually read?

whoosh

SLAM! BURN! YOU CANNOT READ! LEARN TO REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAADDDDD!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lulz

it is mean tho

surely he could have chosen SOMEONE else who talks like they sing to compare the dude to, is what I am saying.

can u read?

i can

I'm not really sure why I capitalized someone. please forgive me for the excessive use of caps.

After being bombarded with Howler on the radio all day I can say one thing:

This fucking hoopla is because of a middle-of-the-road harmless rock band.

If it was some sorta teeny bopper skrillex bunk I could totally buy our collective butthurt. But it isn't. This thread is bad, and we should feel bad.

jesus that was a bad post

anybody have an estimate of how many times in the past 10 years NME has declared the 'return of rock'?

Call me rockist: Howler doesn't bother me that much. That one "Told You Once" song did drive me a little crazy because of its intro sounding like something that took me a little while to remember where I had heard a similar guitar chord intro it before.

Howler is a completely OK band. I have no problem with their success.

Grant's Tomb
1/13/12 8:01 PM

After being bombarded with Howler on the radio all day I can say one thing:

This fucking hoopla is because of a middle-of-the-road harmless rock band.

If it was some sorta teeny bopper skrillex bunk I could totally buy our collective butthurt. But it isn't. This thread is bad, and we should feel bad.

Um, no. We should not feel bad. It is a "harmless MOR rock band," yes. However, it is also a bummer that harmless and MOR is what gets you a high profile and I don't think it is necessarily a sign of "collective butthurt" to say that something lame is indeed lame. It is lame. And for all the griping I do about my fellow MRMB'ers liking CCR, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan and the like, it is nice to occasionally see a preponerance of board people actually admitting that something local that is ostensibly aimed toward a "target audience" that would be interested in Rough Trade's output is indeed lame.
Issues of taste. It is OK to say that this is lame music packaged in an ugly manner. Because it is.

I know you didn't just compare Steely Dan to Howler. Or vice versa.

I didn't. Just lame to lame.

I tried to stream this album off NPR. I couldn't make it through. It's atrocious.
However, the live show of the band I caught many months ago did not offend me, nor was it memorable. They seemed like nice guys.

About no bikes: Interesting, frank, well-argued, and detailed posts, even or perhaps especially when I don't agree. Also as good a sport under the circumstances as could be humanly expected.

CAN APPLE’S BRAND WIZARDS MAKE AN INDIE BAND TAKE OFF?

Mono, an agency that’s done award-winning work for clients including Apple, General Mills, MSNBC, Virgin, and others, launches an experiment that could change the way bands do business.


americagiveup.com



ummmm

That was really annoying

yeah i'm done defending these clownz eek

fuck howler, im going to beat them all up with verbal abuse.

Fucking A. I know at least one of those Mono folks. I now will have to nutpunch them the next time I see them. This is rank.

Is that snippet of music even from the band?

fuck this cash-grab sellout horseshit.
eat endless dicks, howler.

Repulsive. I'm not sure that One Notch Shy of Racism (or ageism or whatever they're ironically "othering") is a good marketing strategy.

haha, what's the problem? aside from it being bad writing and unfunny?

to think there was a time when bands like styxx and journey were deemed too corporate for taking up too much studio time, anal amounts of production in the recordings and live show.

...if they are going for marketing the band as a brand, why don't they just start investing in mall kiosks selling howler specific bull shit? maybe that is what this is leading up to at sxsw?

i've never been there but my understanding of sxsw is that it is essentially exactly what you have described

wanting to turn your band into a 'brand' = endless baaarrrrfffffff

Indie Rock
(1976-2008)

Indie Rock That Was Any Good
(2008-2015)

9/11 LAWomanMachine
3/02/12 8:39 PM
haha, what's the problem? aside from it being bad writing and unfunny?

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd take issue with this if I thought it were well-executed. But I don't think I'd want my band associated with jokes about trucker hats and The Situation.

It's funny, I guess I know one of howlers dads, he was a big wig vp at funcoland when I first started

the visual component of this shit band is just blowing my fucking mind how bad it is. what the fuck am i supposed to do with this picture of a old black dude in an office in 1976? Am I supposed to laugh? and then there's the album cover...jesus. i hope someone got fired over that

That "video?" made me want to drink a Mountain Dew out of a "Hunger Games" themed Pringles can. Actually that sounds kinda good, I bet the sodium residue would chemically bond with corn syrup. Mmmmm Sodiurnup.

Their album title seems to suggest that we should give up and accept that shitty music has taken over the world. You thought music was bad? Wait till you hear HOWLER, who will make you give up.

i'm currently working (pro bono) at getting stnnng hooked up with Fallon Marketing to unleash some really fresh viral ads on bus benches and shit.
this new wave of synergy will reap handsome returns and increase stnnng's market penetration tenfold.

My co worker just moved to MN from Ohio...

"do you like howler"?
Proceeds to play record (honestly just reminded me of a not so good strokes)

"i pledged $100 to the current. They turn me onto so much music".

s the website and videos and scripts took shape, Mono zeroed in on the band’s record title, "America Give Up," as an intentionally ambiguous statement about the decline Western civilization at the hands of Kardashian-drenched, teen-mom-fueled, YouTube-ready, viral culture. The primary vehicle for this statement would be a series of YouTube videos that would offer social share-worthy commentary on, among other things, the Kardashians and teen moms. And instead of the band themselves offering screeds, they’d cast a character who embodied the awestruck, playful cynicism of five rock band members in their late teens and early 20s--a slightly grumpy middle-age black man.

Irony: achieved.

this marketing company should probably hire someone who either knows how to edit or write before they think they're selling the next justin beiber record

Hahahahaha Pitpat we're ready for that sort of penetration.

i dunno why you guys are confused about what this is supposed to say about the band, i already explained it upthread

this is just an attempt to apply odd future's branding to a rock band. this is a link to the tv commercial that ran in support of tyler the creator's goblin album. same type of thing.

i'm not interested in this band and i'm not interested in defending them, but you guys are saying some kinda dumb stuff in this thread, e.g.

- calling them "sellouts" for this. they're on rough trade, not a major label, and they hired a marketing company with the money they otherwise would have spent on a music video. it's not like this is their music or their image being used to sell mountain dew. this is just them trying to make money. if you think this campaign is tacky and lame, totally valid, but if you have some kind of fundamental objection to marketing a band, you basically have a fundamental objection to bands making money and that's fucking retarded.

- people who don't understand what the videos have to do with the band - again, this is this commercial that XL used during the marketing push for tyler the creator's "goblin" album. what kids are supposed to get from this is that howler is cool in the same way that odd future is cool. not for me, probably not for anyone else on the board either, but whatever, odd future got really big in a very short period of time so it was inevitable that people would start trying to copy them.

Also this is kinda what everyone signed up for when we decided all music should be free on the internet

The aesthetics are gross though and this band is not good

another point worth raising is that despite being a fan of new music who reads a lot of websites covering new bands, i can basically guarantee you that i would not have heard of howler if i didn't live in minneapolis

it's not being marketed at me and i'm not seeing this campaign or this band being discussed anywhere else but this thread

I usually just nod silently when I read no bikes' commentary on things that only make sense to those that have their finger on the pulse of youth culture, but I think it's a stretch to tie this so directly to the oddfuture marketing. The motif of "non-sequiturs in a tacky retro setting" has been pretty dominant in popular advertising since at least Napoleon Dynamite, and it seems like this character is more "bemused curmudgeon" than Tyler's "possible dementia patient".

When did that worn-out technique of "sudden imposing capital letters accompanied by noise metal" start? It always reminds me of the opening sequence of Kids.

city pages called it a "hilariously subversive marketing campaign"

I'm guessing city pages received monetary compensation to say such a thing.

It is the only plausible explanation.

I already got my ASCAP check just for posting in this thread.

At least you don't have to admit to having taste that questionable.

The motif of "non-sequiturs in a tacky retro setting" has been pretty dominant in popular advertising since at least Napoleon Dynamite

splitting hairs. odd future didn't invent a lot of the tools they used to brand themselves, but they were the first or at least the first successful group to use them to market music. it's clear from their press and from this campaign especially that the way howler are being branded and marketed has a ton to do with odd future and their success.

And odd future is on minute 14.5 of their 15 minutes. Good model to follow.

The problem with viral videos is there's always a new one coming out the day after, and they usually have more saxophone solos.

ASCAP? pffffft. BMI 4evr.

no bikes
3/03/12 11:26 AM

it's not being marketed at me and i'm not seeing this campaign or this band being discussed anywhere else but this thread

You might have caught a review on this one obscure indie music website.

a 6.0 review buried in the 4th or 5th slot is basically pitchfork saying "we want nothing to do with this"

i doubt anyone saw it who wasn't already paying attention

i'm not interested in odd future but i think it's a bit of a stretch to smugly decree that their career is almost over when they just booked a tour of 1000-1500 capacity venues that will almost certainly sell out, just started the PR cycle for their TV show which will begin airing soon on adult swim, and just released a video for their next compilation, which will probably sell handily in big box retailers everywhere

if we're on minute 14.5 of their success, then you're in for the longest 30 seconds of your life

hey it wasn't that smug. I just think people who are fans of odd future will realize that ICP does it better.

no bikes
3/03/12 11:53 AM
a 6.0 review buried in the 4th or 5th slot is basically pitchfork saying "we want nothing to do with this"

i doubt anyone saw it who wasn't already paying attention

Well now who's splitting hairs? "They're hardly getting mentioned anywhere outside of this thread... oh, except the most influential music website in the country, but in the fourth or fifth slot, so it doesn't count!"

JRN jams into first!

Odd future/icp comparisons are way off, try 90s necro, cage anna and those type dudes

magma90210 is in another time zone

Also vastly different media environment but odd futures branding is totally in debt to what wu tang did

Odd Future (or the people that comprise it anyway) is going to be around for a long time. They have a ton of talent, whether you enjoy what they do with it or not, and I often don't. The new Hodgy Beats EP that has beats from Flying Lotus, Alchemist and Juicy J is dang good.

And I also agree that P-fork listing an album with a huge amount of hype 4th or 5th is kind of burying it.

it's not like getting your album reviewed by pitchfork is difficult, especially if it's on rough trade. that review is just them saying "no thanks", and accordingly there's no coverage of it elsewhere on the site or on any of the other ones i read, which is all i was saying

and i mean are you really lecturing me about pitchfork?

i would also concur that for a label as big and reputable as rough trade to put out a record that receives this low of a score and a low placing says a lot about how invested they are as a site in promoting the band. And label considered, probably the only reason it was reviewed in the first place.

There are two things people should realize about anything I say:

1) I don't know shit about fuck
2) I like the vengaboys

i like the vengaboys too kobby

I'm not surprised one bit. They are awesome.

We like to party. We like, we like to party.

wiggle wiggle wiggle

no bikes, you said:

it's not being marketed at me and i'm not seeing this campaign or this band being discussed anywhere else but this thread

Pitchfork is outside this thread, and Howler got discussed there. It wasn't a great review, and I'm sure it's not what they or their label hoped for, but that's still a very prominent place to have your band reviewed. So it seemed like an oversight on your part. That's all!

all the major music things in town wrote articles specifically about this campaign

and i wouldn't have seen any of the major music things in town if i did not live here

i think the marketing of music is changing.

Howler has just recently had their first peek at real-deal music promotion. This first peek usually results in reviews in a few online locations and maybe a notice or two about tour plans. If the fledgling act can score a notable collaboration or remix or something, they may get more. After a quick search, Howler has a review in PFork, Drowned in Sound, Popmatters and elsewhere, probably. This would put Howler's general exposure equal to that of many people currently residing in the Twin Cities and several people who post here, including some of the principals in this discussion.

The thing is, I don't know anyone who has executed a promotional campaign as awkwardly as this.

Also,

howie_ZZ
3/03/12 3:03 PM
i think the marketing of music is changing.

Advertising has changed, that's the thing. Why would it be any different for music? I no understand complaints. Maybe you should be happy they kept it local by having the guy hold a Star Tribune sports section.

Actually, this dude reminds me of Clara Peller. That's some cutting-edge promotion stylee.

I know one of the Mono guys and am frankly shocked that this came from them. It's lame.

The real problem with this ad campaign is that the b(r)and Howler offer no foreseeable utilitarian purpose like the other brands that Mono represents, even in the loosest utilitarian sense of "lifestyle." For instance, Bludot makes rather beautiful furniture. To say nothing of the self-evident purpose of furniture (despite the many ways its context may be ironized: its quality is implied in the price and the manner in which it's promoted as an augmentation of a lifestyle.
The difficulty, then, in transposing these implications unto a band is that as a band, Howler has no purpose other than (fleeting) entertainment and to conflate a catchphrase that doubles as an album title with a mode or mentality in which to confront modern American life is to not only assume too much from those who are unfortunate enough to encounter it, but to assume that those people would even fucking care in the first place.
Watching the videos, I didn't see anything different from any other mainstream outlet of humor like Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, or a Burger King commercial. Not because it was unfunny, but because it accomplishes nothing more than casually submitting to the aptly vacuous space in which the rest of the media is already existing within. Howler and this campaign seem painfully behind the times, and by creating a vacuum to vacuum a vacuum they've accomplished nothing more than: At Best) a few more units moved; At Worst) some eyerolling this post.

The new italian chicken sandwich at Burger King is good.

I recognized at least one of those quips in the videos from a Gallagher special. Just sayin'. This will probably work for high school kids though, which is kind of the point.

My favorite of these kinds of campaigns will always be Subservient Chicken.

i don't back this shit on any level but fuck it, gotta try and get those dollars somehow

piggy i think you raise some good points

i think it is fair to say that this campaign is behind the times in terms of pop culture as a broad thing but i also think that's true the music industry in general and especially rock music - i think peoples' expectations are fairly low going into something like this and it's not unreasonable to think that the target audience might go for something like this campaign if they're unsophisticated enough to be able to take it at face value or just so starved for novelty that they'll be besides themselves with glee when they hear stuff like sxsw and lana del rey being the target of this sort of comedy

i mean they are a rock band, and if there is an audience of kids out there open to getting excited about this type of music they will absolutely be the kind of people for whom the mere mention of the word "dubstep" will never be anything more than a punchline

in that respect there are probably more people on this board who share that worldview and might be entertained by this campaign than anyone in this thread wants to think about

I totally agree, and I would venture to guess that if this was a viral campaign for a new show, people's reactions to it would be a lot different. That's not a slight at anyone in particular, I just honestly fail to realize the difference between this humor and something on NBC.

There was a really long period of time where I idealized music as some sort of higher thing, that commerciality would somehow taint it or undermine the power of it. I don't feel that way anymore, but not because music as a thing has become demystified, or I'm somehow more "mature" than I was when I was in a band, touring, and trying to get "somewhere" with it. It's because music, like anything, is a time consumer and whatever ripples in your mind its stone produces are usually less inherent to the music itself than where ever your headspace is at when engaging it.

The folks running Howler's campaign are doing a tenth of the mental gymnastics as the dudes in this thread.

Those are good dudes. Hope they get to tour the world for as long as they want to.

If good people got to do what they wanted I'd be dead by now.

the klf described music once as an excellent filing system for the brain's memory banks and i think that's the best description of it's inherent worth and place in the universe i've ever heard

in spite of or because of it's universality, it's kind of a low form of art, and i think it's best when people who are involved in making it can be self-aware on that point

That is pretty spot on. I think that if someone is more aware of the natural disposability of anything they create, it usually yields more interesting results, and even more so when the creation of it is kind of an inversely destructive act in and of itself.

Howler is not rock 'n roll.

get the fuck out of here with that shit

i'll catch up on some of this thread tomorrow after brunch. have a good night guys, hopefully see some of you at grumpy's.

I didn't read a lot of this thread today, but I would like to commend Rae on his two Rock n' Roll Racing references.

Rae lights him up!

The YITH looks lost out there

no bikes
3/03/12 5:21 PM

in spite of or because of it's universality, it's kind of a low form of art, and i think it's best when people who are involved in making it can be self-aware on that point

Sorry, but this is suuuuch a busllshit statement. You are going to present yourself as the grand arbiter of just what does and doesn't constitute art? You're saying that music, from fucking Mozart to Skrillex is a "low" form of art? Come the fuck on. Sure, Howler's music sucks. I can agree on that. But trying to drag ALL of music down with it? Fuck that.

you are going to lecture no bikes about art?

i mean to say "pop music"

Ah, see, this is a perfect example of why I love no bikes' contributions to the board. What he said there I strongly disagree with, and in fact, find kind of patently absurd, yet he expressed it concisely, forcefully, and without rancor, and I imagine he means it to be taken at more or less face value and has thought through the implications.

I'd love to stay and give a lecture about art. But I'm headed to a Voytek show

(credibility established)

i remember the show howler got signed at. i only remember being bored a couple minutes into howlers' set, voytek played something along the lines of randy man macho savage.

i usually agree with no bikes and m(r)iss piggy
band is not relevant

here is a link to The Manual: How To Have a Number One The Easy Way by the KLF, the how-to pamphlet they wrote after reaching number one on the UK pop charts with a mash-up of gary glitter and the doctor who theme song

it is more interesting than anything anyone, including me, is going to have to say in this thread about the nature of popular music and it doesn't really take that long to read

i agree with warsaw.
i frequently don't agree with no bikes (which is totes fine; it would be boring as shit if i agreed with everybody all the time).
but i admire dude's ability to clearly eloquote his views.
like, i might disagree with him, but it's clear he's put thought into his ideas and understands what he enjoys/dislikes and why.

Is that Howler video thing supposed to be like a safer version of this?

And of course I'm projecting, but I feel like design-wise, there's something really telling about this weird collection of discarded iterations from the album art:

IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEW

My guess is that those are all versions of the cover that were either rejected or not considered for some reason or other...lots of busywork to find the perfect vacuous statement. The only Futura Bold I'd rather look at less is that chiropractor sign on the corner of Hennepin and 25th by Kowalski's. Also, the one song I heard by this band made me feel like an old person, which usually doesn't piss me off, but this time it did.

seriously, fire that graphic artist.
then murder them.

hahah the GREEN ONES

wtf, someone must've needed to make up a bunch of busy work to fill up a few days or something, that shit is fucking abhorrent

Exactly. "Hmmm...I guess let's see one where the border is red on the inside but still beige on the outside, and maybe the circle is just a little smaller. No wait, red on the outside and blue on the inside...and change the circle to a square...but definitely keep the type exactly like that. You've fucking NAILED that type."

I read about half of the KLF thing and, though it's generally what one might call "well-written," it's essentially a longer, more british ("cheekier") version of Albini's famous diatribe against major labels. Both of those documents are dull and full of truths plain to anyone who gives a fuck.

It may be a comfort to those who actually make the stuff to call popular music a "low" form of art because it takes the pressure off. If one is practicing a low form of art it shouldn't matter if you pimp it out to advertisers or whatever. Low arts are disposable so, if any instance of this contemptible form should, on its way to oblivion, produce a tangible good like money, we should count our blessings. If one is practicing a low art, then it makes sense that placing a song in Gossip Girl or an online advertisement for automobiles is a net positive.

I know the need to make money and I've made my own compromises. But I continue to be baffled by artists (even low ones) who commit too much of their precious cultural capital to branding themselves. Branding is a way to succeed in business and a way to fail at art (unless branding yourself is your art in which case I wish you would join us in 2012).

that's a pretty astonishingly inaccurate appraisal of the KLF book, there's nothing in it that resembles albini's vitriol against major labels in tone or in substance. i think you'd have to be projecting a lot of personal emnity onto the text in order to reach the conclusion you just stated.

i would say anything that is capable of taking two minutes or less to totally absorb would qualify as a low art. FUUUUUUUUUUUCK IT

pitpat
3/03/12 11:09 PM
seriously, fire that graphic artist.
then murder them.


hahaw

singer's ex-girlfriend

I found out about this WEB CAMPAIGN from her. she is not happy.

Garyburrito, I love you.

No Bikes, every time I read a post of yours it's like when my high school juniors and seniors lecture me about music, the internet and anything else in life they feel they should share their expertise on.

ok i just finally watched those ads....so i guess they paid "brand wizards" to recast an old Crankshaft cartoon from the sunday paper with a black guy.

the dumb thing about this is that bands have been marketed and "branded" since forever! it's just these guys are stupid enough to pay some company to do a bad job of it and make it seem really hamfisted.

like, take, i dunno, Pink Floyd...they are an incredible brand! by the 90s you were more going to see the brand than the actual band....they have all this iconography, merchandise, etc....it makes this stuff seem so poorly done and sad by comparison

a lot of really great bands instinctively knew how to create themselves as a brand, w/o some agency doing it....but that's because they had a sense of aesthetics with a purpose...it's just retarded that this is being written about as "innovative" when it's such child's play compared to, cfe, malcolm mclaren's branding of the sex pistol like a zillion years ago.

barfff

those commercials really really really really suck

once again, sir magma drops mad science.

Mags said everything right discussion over.

I'm-a-go hammer Ike's brunch.

Yay mags, right on. Yeah I think I'll go eat BLB or something now.

i know not many of yall are a fan of the band but did anyone see those Gayngs video trailer things they dropped leading up to the release of their record? i thought those were pretty rad, and an effective way to do a series of video "commercials" for their record.

If Howler were even a halfway compelling band, they wouldn't need 1000 different mock-ups of their logo and a shitty ad campaign right out the gate.

Mediocrity needs to be sold, though, as it can't speak for itself.

"Hey, guys...I started a brand!"

Bitches got nothing on the TG/PTV/Death In June/NON crowd for this shit. The difference there is they did it themselves, expertly.


I guess Sleazy was a Hipgnosis employee, though!

Good points, mags. I cringed when you said 'retarded', though.

My bad rae, I try not to say that anymore

As an American I will NOT give up

As an American I gave up before anyone in Howler was alive.

THE GREAT HOWLER VS. 4 ON THE FLOOR CIVIL WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude sounds like no bikes!

heh maybe i like these guys more than i thought i did

hahaha.

ahh, he's a Tapes 'n Tapes fan.

hahaha just read that.

Howler's original label, So-tm, producer/manager, et al are all ad biz folks. good people. they really got going when Total Babe's songs were in some German car ad.

Gaurdian interview

They bring up some good points re: 4onthefloor

Don't they know 4onthefloor is local? Bad form, bro!

they make a good point about Tapes N Tapes being the only good band from Minneapolis since the 80s.

Tapes N Tapes being the only good band from Minneapolis since the 80s?????? I just spit up my beer after I read that.

Because it's the truth?

they sure made the scene interesting!

Yeah, minneapolis music summarized as "husker, prince...then tapes n' tapes" is a thing of beauty.

No Honeydogs? Get this kid a library card.

hell, even if you dislike them, leaving out Soul Asylum, Semisonic, The Jayhawks, etc. while mentioning Tapes n' Tapes is sorta silly.

but Howler's first US tour was opening for TnT last fall, so there's also that.

comparing 4otf to Mumford & Sons is a bit headscratch worthy however... Trampled By Turtles have way more in common w/ M&S.

Not sure, but haven't there been some rapping guys that have had some success?

yeah... then there's that whole thing.

It is kind of interesting what bands from Minnesota people out here now. Trampled by Turtles, Charlie Parr and Pert Near Sandstone are all pretty big. No Bird Sing played here last fall and it wasn't a packed show or anything, but there were about 10 or 15 kids up front that knew all of their lyrics, and they had never played here before. People should come play out here more to spread the

Commenter on the blog post is dropping "mad" Jante Law references. He must have his Magna Cum Jante!

In this situation, I think both sides are right. And wrong.

comparing 4otf to Mumford & Sons is a bit headscratch worthy however... Trampled By Turtles have way more in common w/ M&S.

i think a much more useful point of comparison for both acts is literal dog shit

Oh that lengthy, boring comment was even worse than the blog post that inspired it.

This town needs fewer people wearing earplugs to shows.

IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEW

make it a champagne enema and we have a deal

Will American sparkling do? I have half a bottle and kids have gone to sleep already.

bring the blaster and i'll bring the poppers

see you in 10, crack the door for me

So does this mean Howler and 4ontheFloor are gonna chain fight?

We haven't had a good knock-down, drag-out band rivalry around here since the days of 12 Rods vs, American Head Charge.

Ha! I forgot about that one

seems like a slap fight is more likely.

More context wrt 12 Rods v. AHC plz

Come on, who DIDN'T 12 Rods get mouthy with?

Hopefully in a few years I will have forgotten Howler the way I've forgotten 12 Rods.

REMEMBER!!

More context wrt 12 Rods v. AHC plz

Agreed.

Am I the only one who remembers the Nu-metal bands vs Indie/Harcore bands fight on the old Foxfire board in like 1999?

i like some funky drums but i hate some clunky drummers

was this a lftr pllr lyric about c. mcgu!re?

clunky or chunky? i need to know its vital

I thought it was chunky, but yes, allegedly.

as someone who moved here in '99... fill me in on the AHC / 12 Rods thing as well.

It was based in personal relationships and that's all I care to say.

Which brings up a good point. Mr. Howler is bringing up beef with another band because...why? They have a kick drum fetish/gimmick? Who cares? If they stole your gear, slept with your mom or wrote a song about you then, by all means, have beef. Otherwise you're just being a bully.

Sometimes I think that people have begun to confuse being an asshole with an opinion with having a interesting personality. Opinionated assholes are usually quite boring.

opinionated assholes are some of my best friends

u r wat u eet

i just got hungry

howl on bros

Didn't know this singer/interviewee guy but knew the drummer and he had this kind of attitude. Delusion of grandeur of being a big fish in a little sea. enjoy your massive debt when no one gives a shit about you in 6 months.

would you say he was a reel big fish?

sickest band

9 Months

sickest hugh grant jawn

dudes: i'm scooterin' thru this here thread.

I have had plenty of moments of feeling "outside" of the local music scene (most of the 1990s/early 2000s especially), but jeez. This is a regular young guys in a rock and/or roll band and they are smack in the middle of the tastemaking machine RIGHT NOW. The sense of indignation over uninteresting or substance-lacking bands getting a bunch of attention is hilarious to me, because it's not like they were "plying their craft for years in obscurity and banging their heads against a wall" while a bunch of other inferior acts got tons of attention for lesser work.

Yes, MPLS has a lot of locally popular and nationally unknown/underknown acts, but so does every town with a music subculture.

I said a lot of similar things in my first interview with City Pages though (talking about charting on East or West coast stations with the same format as Radio K but having zero luck wasting promo discs on them while their local show played the new Tulip Sweet CDR as soon as they dropped it off), and my own bands have generally been working in stylistic areas that go over better in other areas. Still, the bands I have been in have been more appreciated locally than I thought any of them would be, and I eventually stopped caring about media outlets not being interested. The records sell, so fuck it.
I get "feeling out of place," but jeez dude. You're flavor of the month in the UK right now. Have fun navigating the most famously fickle hype culture on the fucking planet.

Best comment from the comments section:

Too bad for Jordan ignoring a pretty brilliant run of great Twin Cities indie rock in the 1990s. He's missing out on a lot of great music.

^hands down the absolute worst low period in local music generally since I can remember.

Indeed, I can't imagine wasting valuable Interview Space by bitching about another band getting some sort of attention when you're in the position these young clowns are in. And from what I have heard, they don't have anything special going on themselves. Mediocre, derivative Modern Alternative Rock, Safe as milk and twice as gross.

More context wrt 12 Rods v. AHC plz

12 Rods guy's chick left him for AHC guy. 12 Rods recorded a song about it, containing a line something like "plays in a band/ sounds like Korn/ not too impressive/pretentiously agressive". Song got really popular locally and was on the radio a bunch. AHC vowed revenge, blah blah blah. I never did hear how that all turned out, but the song was kind of catchy.


Wow, talk about low periods - the late 90s/early 00s.

Thee lowest. I did play a show with C. McGuire sometime in the early '90s though, and he's a very good drummer.

So did they click yet?

Another week, another "oh my god someone said something bad about our city and music scene and I'm outraged". I'm still recovering from SNL totally dissing Minnesota hip hop radio.

Hypersensitivity and chip on the shoulder syndrome. It's a great combination.

I find this all to be very "interesting" to quote jordan.

At least we're spending our time talking about them and not wasting it by listening to them, right?

i've moved on to sea punk

same.

Singer dude's voice reminds me of the first Mercury Rev singer. I didn't like that guy's voice much either

this is a forehead smacking read.

It's not just because I don't live there anymore, but honestly, how the fuck does anyone care about having a scene? Yes, social circles, having people to bounce your stuff off of, etc...etc... all valid, valuable things. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about having some sort of pride in someone getting "famous" who just happens to be from the same geographic location as you. It's absurd and nothing more than high school chest thumping from people who pray there is something in the water that will trickle down talent/vision/blah blah. The example used w/r/t e. gymnastics is valid, however, the proposal at the end with all this "we" "we" "we" bullshit is such garbage. What a token diagnosis, so on its face dumb.

that editorial really sucked

That's pretty bad from its opening "we're the only place that bands don't get by on the merits of their record in the world" theory

haha yeah because we even have to be special and different in our flaws, which are shared by every music scene ever

I think that writer might actually be in high school.

haha i used to date her

.05xgf

The problem with the Tangential piece is it assumes that somehow getting famous outside of here while not getting much attention here means they are a good band/act/whatever.

Uhhhh, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world has at least as shitty taste in music as Minneapolis does, if not even more shitty. The fact that Howler is signed to a major label and is big in Europe is proof of this.

I also don't get why we'd want our "scene" to appeal to anyone?

seriously though so many writer seem to operate under some bizarre delusion that the music business was or could still be (or still is in other places) a meritocracy

Her thinking does align with Savage Clone's regarding Schtick Bands of the Twin Cities (minus her cluelesness of what happens elsewhere in the world).

m(r)iss piggy
3/06/12 10:45 AM
this is a forehead smacking read.

It's not just because I don't live there anymore, but honestly, how the fuck does anyone care about having a scene?

Not to go off-road here, but you say this as though you weren't once a vigorous scene participant.

I only mean to say that I don't believe the social functions and comforts of a scene mystify you this much.

Gross.

great, now people are dragging me into this

[picture of shaq dunking and breaking the backboard glass]

her blog post sucked. but come on solace, get out of here with that bullshit.

mags, I hate to split hairs, but...

the dumb thing about this is that bands have been marketed and "branded" since forever! it's just these guys are stupid enough to pay some company to do a bad job of it and make it seem really hamfisted.

...this statement is a little weird. you're right in stating that bands have long been branded, but why do you assume it wasn't paid for in the past?
it's interesting that the howler thing is so out in the open & unabashed (and horrible, too). also, the fact that they went out & hired help for this make be more of a statement about the shrinking music biz than has been discussed herein. since labels have miniscule staffs & smaller budgets, they can't afford to take on something as ambitious in-house.

her blog post sucked. but come on solace, get out of here with that bullshit.

also... this interview Jordan did with Jim Walsh on MinnPost few months ago, he comes off as a lot more well thought out and mature:

http://www.minnpost.com/arts-culture/2012/01/acclaimed-howler-celebrates-debut-album

*warning* he professes to have wanted nothing more than to be signed to Afternoon Records when he was younger... heh

Bring back the Quest for Mayhem!

Christ, hah, i just thought it'd be an interesting thing to point out, considering the discussion that people have had towards Koo Koo on here, and considering the "gimmick" argument.

i like Becky and am actually friends with Neil.

fruit&flowers
3/06/12 11:15 AM

mags, I hate to split hairs, but...

the dumb thing about this is that bands have been marketed and "branded" since forever! it's just these guys are stupid enough to pay some company to do a bad job of it and make it seem really hamfisted.

...this statement is a little weird. you're right in stating that bands have long been branded, but why do you assume it wasn't paid for in the past?
it's interesting that the howler thing is so out in the open & unabashed (and horrible, too). also, the fact that they went out & hired help for this make be more of a statement about the shrinking music biz than has been discussed herein. since labels have miniscule staffs & smaller budgets, they can't afford to take on something as ambitious in-house.

yeah you're right about that, there were i'm sure in house marketing and ad departments

on youtube i've even seen wacky old "commercials" for records from the 60s and stuff

basically my main point is that this howler thing is nothing new, just really terrible branding...one because it has nothing to do with product, it's out of character with what their music is (that fictional grumpy black guy character would hate howler probably if he was real) and also it's not really memorable in making you know who the band is....

but yeah you're right, it's always been going on...

here's branding that works:

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IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEW

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i thought koo koo was awful when i saw them at that recent Rock the Cradle event. i'll talk shit about them as a band. i'll talk shit about this blogger as a writer. bringing up who she is dating is just stupid.

I was more referring to the false sense of pride that people have when someone they're loosely associated with succeeds in ways they can't/don't. And like I said, the value of community and acts of community are valuable things, but only in the sense they foster creative personal relationships. The idea of community or scene being nothing more incidental than people just living in the same spot is ridiculous and sad to me.

And maybe this will sound like a shitty thing to say, but at no point in Vampire Hands was I or anyone in the band concerned with putting "Minneapolis on the map" so to speak. We did it for ourselves because it was a thing we wanted to do that we had ideas for. I am entirely reluctant to believe anyone who makes idealistic claims otherwise, and for this Jordan guy to get backlash because he shit talked something he didn't like, it's like, oh well you look really petty but people here reacting like this is what he obviously doesn't care about.

They are awful.

ICP is probably one of the strongest brands in music i would say.

Christ, sorry, i wasn't trying to start some insidious commenting, i just thought it was worth pointing out in the frame of reference regarding her argument/article, sorry if it came off another way.

my bad

zom-zom
3/06/12 11:23 AM
They are awful.

Who? There are at least seven bands listed in this thread that could be described as awful.

sorry, i thought that i'd be the first post after dustroyer.

Christ O Fire
3/06/12 11:23 AM

ICP is probably one of the strongest brands in music i would say.

IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEW

This thread is Hot!

also, my .02... while Jordan's comments are certainly worthy of discussion, i think it's a bit sad for local music when something like this gets more interest/airplay or people talking than any actual music that's come out in a while.

maybe it's just the "winter lull", but i hope the whole thing dies out relatively soon.

The Beatles have fucking BOOTS named after them.

yeah, the dead are another great example.

That "kangaroo" band is the one "musical act" I was describing as "awful".

that's "a" "lot" of "quotes"

"band"

"Sorey"

People sure spend a lot of time worrying and complaining about bands they don't like!

I am posting on an Internet Message Board.

I don't own a television.

People sure spend a lot of time trying to create a lot of outrage over a dumb comment in an interview. Next!

The UK version of Howler is hilarious

i once killed a man for his moccasins

Howlerton Abbey?

Like I said, I'm still trying to gather my words about my outrage over Lindsay Lohan dissing Minnesota hip hop radio.

I wonder if Howler got their name because they're big T-Wolves fans. Yo! Howler dudes, write a song called "Rubio Do-Me-Oh!" and let me do a guest spot where I talk in a bad Spanish accent.

Tone Fly is pissed

Check out ICP's merch booth:

IMAGE REMOVED - CLICK TO VIEW

They are pretty high up there in the biggest rock brands in the world. Or at least America.

I went to an ICP show for the first concert review I ever wrote. I actually kinda had fun.

ICP are playing a SXSW showcase next week... if that's not the best case argument for why SXSW is ridiculous these days, i don't know what is.

hey mags -- I know where you were going with the branding stuff, just wanted to add a little footnote

dude, shut up

my ex thinks she's so tough
she flicks her cigarette before she puffs
i think she's a man when she wears adidas
she lost her libido then dumped me for a punk

who's in a band, sounds like korn
but pretentiously aggressive
not too impressive
for someone she brags to be an ex-junkie
what has happened to the one that i love

"What has happened" by 12Rods

I hope Howler sent Voytek a thank you card.

god, thanks for reminding me of that song.

12 rods has been one of my top three most hated bands since about 1998. just from having to hear that stupid record OVER AND OVER in the purple onion. ugh.

People sure spend a lot of time worrying and complaining about bands they don't like!

Amen. You know that bands love getting negative attention. Bands have thrived off it. It's probably not hurt ICP even. Bachmann used the same strategy to get herself on the national radar.

The problem with that blog post is the assumption that schtickiness isn't a tactic that gets you noticed IN GENERAL. Man Or Astroman? weren't from here.
Having good records helps sell records. I appreciate anyone who wants to bypass the local scene, honestly. The notion that a lot of the things that make temporary splashes while other better things either do better out of town or don't get the attention they deserve locally is kind of always going to be true. Like everywhere.

Oh, so you just noticed that people spend a lot of time doing this? It only makes up about 33% of the board's posts.

People spend a lot of time complaining and posting all sorts of dumb stuff. Weak attempts at comedy, blathering about sports teams, going on and on about restaurants that suck or have manna from heaven in their hot-tables. All sorts of complaints, commentary, criticism. Every single person who posts on this board does the same shit. So what?

positive mental attitude livin life to the fullest, clonebrah

Live strong

zom-zom
3/06/12 1:02 PM

Oh, so you just noticed that people spend a lot of time doing this? It only makes up about 33% of the board's posts.

if i could count i bet this fact would be amazing to me!

It's true Clone. This board is full of folks with an abundance of opinions, probably too many opinions per person.

someday i will learn but for now im just trying to remember that 8 is a huge number of cheeseburgers and not to order that many again. whats a smaller number? any suggestions?

Oh, I know that it's a huge part of the board.

Clone, totally with you. Too many people pay far too much attention to what local media says about them. It's nice but it's not the be all end all.

Opinion Guilt is ruining the scene.

I have never heard 12 Rods. They got a perfect 10.0 on Pitchfork back in the day. I will now see if they have 12 Rods on Rhapsody and report back with my thoughts.

Jeezus sza sza, you have to only eat one if it's from a MRMB-Approved Hamburger Dinner Restaurant serving Gormay Takes on An American Classic. Or if you go to White Castle, which you can read about in varying MRMB threads of hate, of love, of complaint and indifference, you have to eat 8 to feel satiated.

Numbers and counting are your enemy, it is best to avoid them.

they will ruin your thoughts

Ha yr right I shouldn't be surprised that people waste so much time and energy being negative about this stuff, but I still think it is a waste.

the guy who owns pitchfork lived in minneapolis until some point in the early 00s

while he still lived here he gave insanely high ratings to a lot of local music, like i think walt mink got a 10.0 too

before i moved here i would read the site and be really confused when they'd fawn over something like the bad plus that i'd never heard of otherwise

no its not! if you write all the negative stuff down, it comes out of your butt through the keyboard so that when i see you in the bar you only tell me happy stuff and we hug and cry and don't waste time talking about how we hate howler or whatever.

You need (8) Cheese-Burgers.

I like 12Rods. However the album with "What has Happened?" was not very good and 0lc0tT will admit that as it sounds like it was hell recording with Todd Rungren.

"Gay?" and "Split Personalities" are cool.

He's a good guy, but wow oh man was 12Rods' music some of my most personally allergic in history. Howler is merely inoffensive and unremarkable. 12Rods actually made me angry with their sounds.

My Main Man
3/06/12 11:38 AM
Yo! Howler dudes, write a song called "Rubio Do-Me-Oh!" and let me do a guest spot where I talk in a bad Spanish accent.


actually this is goatflower's plan for spanish media dominance.

Yeah they were horrid, and I actually went to see them twice.

Where's DROO? TONGS.

What was the name of that band a few years ago that everyone was all bent out of shape about...the guy that made the Devo videos' son....fuck. I cannot remember their name.

Klik Klak?

speaking of the fighting tongs, i'm kinda rooting for jordis on The Voice, she seems sad and fragile somehow, she started crying during her "battle round" where her and this guy had to sing-battle "ironic" by alanis morrisette

I'm late to the effigy burning, guys: is Howler a big local band?

top serious, i have no clue.

BRING BACK THE OWL THREAD.

I think it was permanently retired.

Yes! Melodious Owl! Thank you.

N1CKS
3/06/12 1:51 PM

Yes! Melodious Owl! Thank you.

I believe w3s now posts as "Hair the sequel" on here and is a loved figure from his former mrmb shit talkers.

They were cool. Klik klak!

I liked that guy's posts. What ever happened to him?

he posts occasionally under a different name

He is "Liz" now.

:|

what kind of music is howler? should i check it out? do you think i will like it?

i was such an unmitigated dick in that old thread.
so embarrassing.
sometimes i dream of a full board wipe.

Don't worry, pitpat. Someday a real rain will come.

A firestorm to purify

Quetzalcuatl's Return

Bring back the Foxfire board.

oh man, i loved the Melodious Owl saga - the only time in my life i have had police chasing me because they thought i was a hate group


i think being in a "famous" or "notable" or "band that is receiving a lot of attention from relatively major press" would be fucking embarrassing. the more people who like you, usually the shittier your band is. there are always exceptions but seems to be how it goes generally

I do hope they at least realize that in order to stay "UK famous," they need to indulge in "antics" that get them banned from their record label offices or kicked out of bars. Stone Roses/JAMC School Of Rock.

don't forget Pete Dougherty, aka The Second Coming, aka The Man Who Will Save Rock Music

i think being in a "famous" or "notable" or "band that is receiving a lot of attention from relatively major press" would be fucking embarrassing. the more people who like you, usually the shittier your band is. there are always exceptions but seems to be how it goes generally

ok

1. some people don't make music because they are concerned with how it will make them look to other people

2. you could probably make just as strong a case for the argument that the less people like you, the shittier your band usually is. they're both retarded statements.

ugh, this thread got really fucking bad when that current article was posted.

This is how you do arrogant.

ugh, this thread got really fucking bad when that current article was posted.

haha i'm pretty sure this statement is always true

1. i would be embarrassed and would not want to make music anymore if there were tasteless shitheads climbing on me all the time

2. okay you have a point but fuck you

1. If you actually "get famous" and "blow up," tasteless shitheads will be the majority of your audience. Audience physics dictates this.

The Mayans understood that millenia ago.

1. yeah and that sux

Don't worry, no one here will ever get famous

Tasteless shitheads make up the majority of any audience.

The Mayans were such sell-outs.

Hi all! I want to tell zsa zsa that I did not spin that 12rods record ever, and that is was all Karl's fault.

But, like clone said, olc0t is a wonderful human being and sound support individual. Also, I love the Gay ep.

Milkdragon
3/03/12 11:05 PM
And of course I'm projecting, but I feel like design-wise, there's something really telling about this weird collection of discarded iterations from the album art:

someone likes Lucky Strike?

m(r)iss piggy
3/06/12 10:45 AM
how the fuck does anyone care about having a scene?

nationalism writ small, see also: sports fandom

coach
3/04/12 8:20 AM

Garyburrito, I love you.

No Bikes, every time I read a post of yours it's like when my high school juniors and seniors lecture me about music, the internet and anything else in life they feel they should share their expertise on.

i would totally be famous and shitheads could jam out to my music all the time

I've had some shitheads like my music. Rock on, shithead.

corngrid i know it wasn't you! karl did not get good tips from me. unless you count "play a different cd already".

A 10.0 for Walt Mink, eh? INTRADASTING

I did not know Hart played a 2-string bass.

My band is terrible, too. Talk about us!

Wow, a lot has been said since I last looked, but am I the only guy in a band who ever played with these guys on MRMB?

I will say I was a fan. We have friends in common. Hell yeah I was rooting for them. I liked the guys as people and thought their first batch of songs live were quite decent live despite the haters they were gathering from the whole Rough Trade thing. The eagerness of them won me over and made me feel good when I saw it.

I will say that after finally hearing that Guardian interview I probably will not be inclined to give a rat fuck henceforth.

No Bikes, you are a smart guy even though you had a dumb mouth in this interview. You seem like someone who should know better. Do you understand what a bunch of people in your hometown who you turn off to your band equals? Fans like me? A bunch of people who are not buying your record. Isn't that why you signed to Rough Trade, to sell records? I bought your record, dude. Not so much the next one I think.

You have management. Didn't they say this was a pretty stupid interview? You should listen to them. The time to backpedal was like 48 hours ago.

I feel bummed out because I know you are better/smarter than you are getting credit for. No one is going to listen to your band now and be fair to it. Peeps in town are not going to ever give you the benefit of the doubt again. Midwesterners have a notoriously long ability to hold a grudge. Its a bummer.

tpnbiato


(tom put no bikes in a time out)

Really? If not, one more thing: why the fuck is No Bikes still lingering around a local label's message board taking nut shots from strangers? Surely he has better things to do.

no bikes is so dick!

^great point.

dear thebombaysweets

i am not actually in howler that is a board in-joke

sorry for the confusion

no bikes

Hint: no bikes is not in Howler, this thread title was a parody stemming from an older thread which i can't remember.

Christ O Fire
3/06/12 9:14 PM

^great point.

that was meant in response to thebombaysweets. no bikes is only kinda dick, imo.

I don't really think no bikes is dick.

so is he a dick or is he in howler?

haha

Aside from his spotty understanding of Twin Cities rock history, and taking a shot at a particular band when that wasn't at all necessary, I don't find anything J0rd4n said objectionable. In fact, he's absolutely right: local media tend to enthuse over pretty mediocre bands, while far better groups go unnoticed. Isn't that practically a truism by now? Hell, take "local" out of the preceding sentence, and no one would bat an eye.

Granted, I haven't listened to the full interview, but I imagine if he had anything more damning to say on the topic, it would have come out in one of these articles.

i like no bikes. real good poster. but i like to poke at him too for his inevitable holier than thouisms.

I like how that interview might have possibly made 4onthefloor more popular.

I didn't know that. Thanks. Shit makes more sense now.

If only it were that easy.

Yeah. Really. MRMB needs an in house executioner.

4onthefloor are the working man's Kraftwerk.

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if we can get just one person to think no bikes is in howler, it was all worth it

Ha!
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I like how that interview might have possibly made 4onthefloor more popular.

This is definitely true. As one of them put it (paraphrasing) "We finally got British press!". They handled this situation really well, and even though Howler dude is right, the scene idiots are going to rally around 4otf just to thumb their nose at Howler, which is a zero sum game, but it's still a game. And I like games.

If people want 4otf let them have it, who cares.

I mean the Howler dude is right about the scene, not right to call them out by name.

I'd rather have 4otf blow up than Howler.

If one more person talks about "the scene" in this thread they are kicked out of the scene. In the face.

The Missoula scene is so much cooler because we have a guy who grew up with one of the guys from Wolf Eyes, not some guy who just booked some tours for them. And Huey Lewis.

Is there already a band called The Scene? If not, that would be a great way for a band to interject themselves into buzz-building conversations

You better copyright that idea before any agencies take it and run with it!

Fuck 4forthepoor, man, I'm starting a band with FIVE kick drums, set up inside a huge pentagram. It's gonna be siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

All of this bullshit is about still about Howler.

A boring band for boring British people. Knock it off you boners.

Does anybody remember back when THERE WERE SUBJECTS OTHER THAN HOWLER

HOWLER RUSTLES MY JIMMIES.

HOWLERT:
tomb is like the late 20s version of that dude in the howler campaign.

I remember laughter

I was just thinking (=deeshing) and I bet if my band from when I was 20 got big for some reason and we got a big record deal and were talking to the press I would talk SO much shit that I'd later regret.

I would also probably do the "difficult interview" thing too though, which no one seems to do any more.

timesquad
3/06/12 9:22 PM
I like how that interview might have possibly made 4onthefloor more popular.

(wan't no part in this thread) but can't help but notice that the guy shows quite a bit more tact and taste in the walsh interview than in the brit one (his 'mowing lawns for famous people' stuff aside). goes to show: it's probably super scary to suddenly be doing interviews in foreign countries and maintain a modicum of perspective. stockholm syndrome...

...would have loved to hear teenage moods promoted in the british press.

which one is no bikes? if howler gets any bigger I'm going to stop namedropping jay for that time I gave his roommate a handjob in his bed while he was sleeping in it.

Or the time they had me buy them booze but they stood outside the liquor store like idiots the whole time and I got nervous about being caught and had a panic attack.

I just started a band and look forward to the chance to shit talk a bunch of you in the British press.

good to have you back, meatjob.

Yeah, that's a pretty triumphant return.

Frankly, I am warming to these guys: 4 on the Floor respond with too many damn acoustic guitars to be punk.

love post-pop too

haha well played 4onthefloor, well played!!!

RandyQuaidofthemind
3/06/12 10:27 PM

The Missoula scene is so much cooler because we have a guy who grew up with one of the guys from Wolf Eyes, not some guy who just booked some tours for them.

his band-name is so howlingly excellent

Man 4onthefloor sucks so bad
Howler I can ignore and assume that some teenagers probably like it, but I assume that people who like 4onthefloor are lame Currenty people who used to be into jam bands for they learned about indie rock and now their favorite band is Fleet Foxes or some shit.

FIRST

HAHA from the comments:

As a Mpls scenster in the 90's, we were taught to support all of our local friends...I went to see D4 along side of AssRash and The Strike and LifterPuller and loved them all! (I so didn't think that time was a lull in music here...so many talented people and I have such fond memories of it) That is what it's all about! Keep on rockin' guys!

WOW WHAT A BROAD SPECTRUM OF BANDS YOU LIKE.

Where's that Willy Wonka meme?

are you guys done yet?

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This is why you never talk shit about other bands in interviews - you're giving away part of your free press!

does anyone want to start a new howler thread for the new howler blog? this one is a city pages jawn. not it.

Howler and the hometown hate debate.

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2012/03/howler_jordan_gatesmith_hometown_hate.php

ughhhh i really wish people would just leave me out of this

Just how healthy is the Twin Cities music scene these days?


UGGGGGGGGHHHHH. PITPAT ARBY ME

Is the 4onthefloor a twitter handle for an Evergreen dorm room?

Why do I keep reading this thread and clicking those links? It makes me part of the problem. God I am disappointed in myself and this town sometimes.

When is City Pages going to give this thread the coverage it deserves?

The number of people aware of this shitty "controversy" is less than the number of people in the sophomore class of Apple Valley High School.

Weeks from now, we'll all remember what we were doing when the Howler controversy first broke.

OK, scratch that. Maybe "days from now."

When is someone from Howler gonna post here???? I want a new "3 spins a day."

here's vitaMN

Is it too early to make Howlercaust jokes? Or too late?

I couldn't read that. I scanned a few lines about dude calling himself a dick and had to quit. I'm sorry. The Howlercaust is over for me.


JK!!!!! I have nothing else to do today.

Later on he brags about his relations with Manchester chicks.

OK, that is the other part I read.

I always hate when people on this board are like, "WHAT? I'm a DICK!!!! If you can't deal with it, SUCK IT, ya NON-PUNK!!!!!!!!!! I'm REAL!!!!!!"

But generally I tend to believe that those people are actual jackasses. This guy just seems like a Try Hard.

He probably sent his girlfriend a postcard of a cat when he was in Manchester. It said "Having a Purrrrfectly wonderful time!" And then a real life female woman was like, "Ha ha that's cute" and then a reporter was like "So tell your girlfriend about BONING BABES IN THE UK, YOU AUTHENTIC ROCK GUY."

LA ATTITUDE

LONGITUDE

Why can't bands be like Malachi Constant and just adore their audience? This Holwer dude needs to eat a fucking sandwich.

A MEMBER OF MALACHI CONSTANT TOOK PICTURES OF ME AND PUT THEM ON THE INTERNET

See---THATs rep/love for the seen. The Constant soaked their audience with adoration from the first note to the last.

FACT: Malachi Constant was actually one of the meanest bands ever.

LA GEAR

FACT: one time a member of Malachi Constant put his other bad's stickers on cymbals that belonged to my brother

That's just like, your opinion, man.