Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Name Checking Mecht Mensch and Void


There seems to be a whole bunch of bands that get described as being like "Void" or "Mecht Mensch" and I think this is total BS. This is some record reviewer shorthand that I guess is supposed to acknowledge how good the record reviewers record collection is and how in the know the reader of the review is for catching the reference. Problem is that it is rarely accurately describes how the band sounds.
The Mecht Mensch thing is just some record nerd bullshit. For the few that have heard the 7", it's not that good, but if you want to appear in the know, you're supposed to nod knowingly. Don't believe me-check the songs here. They didn't even stand out on that Mystic Records Comp. Pretty much the yardstick of generic US Hardcore. The whole Nirvana connection helped revive the bands name and I'm sure today's hipsters read about them in some Spin or Rolling Stone Nirvana article or something when they were 14, but come on. I guess if you were the sucker that paid $50 bucks for it, you don't want to feel like you got a bad deal. There are dozens of lost classics that blow the doors of MM. Try and sound like Neon Christ and get a clue. At least with all the music in the world turning up online, you can tell the pretentious name dropper that you've heard the record and it wasn't too much to write home about.

The Void comparison is another too commonly thrown around description for rote-retro hardcore. Get a fucking grip. Void were a juggernaut. Your shitty band, playing back to the future 80s HC will never be in the same league. Never mind the BS of trying to pass off sub-par boom box recordings as adding to the "rawness".
When older dudes or non-hardcore kids start playing hardcore(with some ironic smirk), they try and drop these obtuse references to Void or Die Kreuzen. I guess since they can't blast it out as devastatingly as Negative Approach or whatever "too obvious" band a normal person would aspire to emulate. As soon as I see Void referenced in a review, I can write the record off. Someone is trying to hard.

**to clarify for the kids in the slow Bus. Void ruled. They are timeless. Mecht Mensch are not. Die Kreuzen remains music for the too much acid contingent. Regardless your band does not sound like any of them and for you record reviewers-try a little harder.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but, dude, you're blogging about record reviewers being pathetic. Are you the pot or the kettle, stinky?

(My son whose name you know told me recently that you smelled like poop. He also told me that I smell like poop. And our neighbor who was kindly snowblowing our driveway apparently smells like poop.)
- D