Love/Hate

I encountered many surprises this year and was very please to have come across new bands. However, by the time December rolled around and my stacks of music magazines reached my knees, I could have strangled the next reporter if they mentioned the following bands:

HEALTH
Girls
Wavves
No Age
Neon Indian
Crystal Castles
Ariel Pink

I'm also pretty sure all of these bands played at the Smell in the past year, if not housing residencies there. For kicks, let's throw in Phoenix and the XX as well. But I became a fan of those two, so let's not include them into the hater's list.

A dominating factor between the above mentioned band is their penchant for "noise-rock" or lo-fi bullshit. Yes, I will call it noise or bullshit because I can't discern one song from the next. After giving their album a listen, my ears are mad at me for treating them to a 36 minute track with slight pauses between moog's and minor chord changes. Neon Indian, Crystal Castles and Ariel Pink can suck it. I've seen their live shows so I feel qualified to say so. I'm not amused. I'm not entertained. And I'm really not drunk enough to give a flying finger flip. So my problem lies with HEALTH, Girls, Wavves, and No Age. I want to like them. I truly, madly, deeply do. I forced my niece to sit through a Wavves music video with me and she clapped at the end. So while I would love to love them, I'm waiting for a track worthy of my admiration. So boys, I demand better come 2010.

And please don't break my heart with these bursting expectations.