
Evil Nature – How Pathetic
Genre: Punk, Post-Punk, Alternative Rock
This week saw Disney showcase their show about, arguably, the most famous punk-rock band. There was an air of inevitability about the whole deal. Yet, some, especially John Lyon, lead singer of the said band, were very upset. And, you couldn’t totally fault. Apart from being turned into a veritable cartoon character on television and against your wishes, there’s something to be said about punk’s anti-authority credo. Or, is there? Are only a certain group of people supposed to understand and enjoy this kind of music and the culture surrounding it?
Well, that seems pretty elitism. It sounds like something that would befit the arena-rock bands of the 70s with their big stages, hordes of groupies and expensive limousines. It sounds like a closed-off world where only the lucky few are allowed to enter. In other words, it doesn’t sound very punk-rock at all. Like it or not, a lot of people liked punk. And, not just the venerable punks willing to sacrifice it all for a set of beliefs but nerdy punk like Descendents, pop-punk like Green Day and even faker punk like Plastic Bertrand.
This is where we are at. Punk can be both pretty and ugly. Evil Nature’s How Pathetic straddles the difference nicely. This is a tune built on strong melodies, on the kind of singing that would make Fat Mike want to start cutting down on the booze, and a sound that is unmistakably punk. It sounds good, rocking, and a bit polished. Is this something that Evil Nature ought to repent for? What will they do if Disney comes calling? These are hard questions to answer, but sometimes we just got to trust our ears. I mean, even John Lydon secretly liked Pink Floyd.
The Lewd Dudes – Monday Morning
Genre: Classic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Beatles, Foo Fighters, Tom Petty, Queen
They say that musicians would do anything to achieve their dream of stardom. That’s not exactly true. Most of them don’t even tune their guitars right, forget about writing their own tunes. So, when you see folks that are willing to go through the grind of starting a band in the same way that they would start a company without any money, you can’t help but be impressed. In fact, most musicians, present company included start bands without any sort of plan of how they are going to make it work.
This doesn’t mean that starting out in a group without any strategy is not worth doing. Even at its worst, creating art is one of the activities that are most worth pursuing. But, given the odds stacked against success, you have to be impressed by musicians that embrace the grind. Those that constantly put out records, those who constantly badger people in the music industry for attention, those who try to add some thought to how they should present themselves. Call them sell-offs if you must. But, it’s these people’s music that you will likely hear on the radio one day.
The Lewd Dudes’ Monday Morning announces the group as fun-loving dudes willing to grind their way towards meaningful success. Do they have it all figured out yet? Certainly not! But, in this style of indie/pop-punk, that’s part of the charm. I bet that they don’t even play the same chords half the time. That matters less than the fact that this is a well constructed, catchy song. And, besides that, The Lewd Dudes sound and look like people that will happily park in from of their house to sell you one of their t-shirts. You have to be impressed and slightly afraid of this kind of ambition.