Mike Viola – Bill Viola
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
The old story about rockstars is that they’re forced to create a character to inhabit on stage but have no way of letting go of that persona once the show is over. It’s a kind of maniacal method of acting.
John Lennon used to say that every nasty song he wrote about someone else ended up being about himself upon closer inspection. It’s not unusual for rock songwriters to be obsessed with themselves. It’s not unusual for them to create a myth around themselves.
Most importantly, it’s something that is practically demanded by audiences. Everyone has a chance to speak to ordinary people. Rockstars are meant to be the contrasting, eccentric extremists.
Mike Viola writes about his younger self, or a version of himself, on Bill Viola in the same way a documentarian might craft a story about an important historical figure. There’s a cold, streetsmart feel to the vocal delivery, which contrasts well with the story. It’s indie-rock about the encouraging opportunities of shape-shifting.
Hadnot Creek – A Good Talking To
Similar artists: Lou Reed, Peter Perrett, Teenage Fanclub
Genre: Jangle Pop
Can rock musicians influence their audience into doing harmful things? Only if the performers are really charismatic and if the songs are worth anything. The rest only get a summer hit and a free ticket on a tour bus at best.
Folks like Lou Reed are never mentioned among the supposedly self-destructive artists who engaged in would-be career suicide. Neither Metal Machine Music nor Lulu could stain the career of such a talented, street-smart audience equipped with such visible disdain for his audience.
Your characters like William S. Burroughs, Lou Reed, or Iggy Pop are as responsible for introducing folks to bad habits as they are for encouraging them to get a library card. They’ll not answer for either of these felonies in this life, though.
Hadnot Creek’s A Good Talking To splits the difference between book smart and street cool with enough love for 70s rock to make you want to go out and buy a vintage record player. It’s a clever, mean-spirited song, one where the songwriter is allowed to hang anyone they wish by the throat and get away scot-free.
