Unpopular Alt/Indie Opinions

SilverScreen

Submarine is a better Whipping Boy album than Heartworm.

Come at me bro :cool;

BrushyMan

Isn't Alt/Indie dead in the traditional sense?

What was the last better than decent alt/indie record, The Postal Service's, 'Give Up'? (2003)

Rothko

Neon Bible is better than Funeral

SilverScreen

BrushyMan wrote: »

Isn't Alt/Indie dead in the traditional sense?

What was the last better than decent alt/indie record, The Postal Service's, 'Give Up'? (2003)

The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream. A couple of months ago.

Dandelion6

Isn't Anything is better than Loveless

BrushyMan

SilverScreen wrote: »

The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream. A couple of months ago.

Ah, come on! It's an OK record. Heaps of 'nothing new'. I'm not sold that it's a gamechanger tho.

seachto7

Slave Ambient is better imo. Still sailing too close to the 80s though, so not exactly ground breaking.

loyatemu

SilverScreen wrote: »

Submarine is a better Whipping Boy album than Heartworm.

Come at me bro :cool;

I don't get Whipping Boy at all.

I'm bewildered that it (HW) is consistently voted the best Irish album of all time - there's a reason it didn't do the business anywhere outside of Ireland.

Furthermore Ireland's record of producing great indie bands is terrible compared to (say) Scotland:

Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Beta Band, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, JAMC, Django Django, Big Country - where are the Irish equivalents?

Empty stadium rock & boybands - that's Ireland's musical legacy

The Wild Bunch

Chicks in converse/flowers in their hair- does not make them 'indie'

JJ72 were massively under-rated

Birneybau

BrushyMan wrote: »

Isn't Alt/Indie dead in the traditional sense?

What was the last better than decent alt/indie record, The Postal Service's, 'Give Up'? (2003)

That is crazy talk. Even regarding The Postal Service/Death Cab for Cutie as decent alt/indie is frankly shocking. There's been a heap of great albums in the last 11 years.

Birneybau

I really don't agree with the hype surrounding Future Islands.

Th Horrors should be huge, one stone cold masterpiece in "Primary Colours", one fantastic album in "Skying" and still too early to judge "Luminous" but I'm enjoying it.

karaokeman

Radiohead reached their artistic peak with Kid A.

The Second Coming is a fantastic album, not as good as The Stone Roses' debut, but pretty close.

Hotale.com

The term "alternative" is in itself extremely pretentious, and the term "indie" has lost it's meaning for the most part.

daUbiq

seachto7 wrote: »

Slave Ambient is better imo. Still sailing too close to the 80s though, so not exactly ground breaking.

What's wrong with the eighties?

daUbiq

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't get Whipping Boy at all.

I'm bewildered that it (HW) is consistently voted the best Irish album of all time - there's a reason it didn't do the business anywhere outside of Ireland.

Furthermore Ireland's record of producing great indie bands is terrible compared to (say) Scotland:

Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Beta Band, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, JAMC, Django Django, Big Country - where are the Irish equivalents?

Empty stadium rock & boybands - that's Ireland's musical legacy

Rollerskate Skinny were pretty good!

seachto7

daUbiq wrote: »

What's wrong with the eighties?

Nothing, but to call War on Drugs ground breaking would be stretching it seeing as he/they tip their hat to the 80s.

Still very good though.

seachto7

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't get Whipping Boy at all.

I'm bewildered that it (HW) is consistently voted the best Irish album of all time - there's a reason it didn't do the business anywhere outside of Ireland.

Well, they got on Jools Holland, which was a good platform. Who knows? Maybe there were label or management issues too that hindered them?

Add in the fact the singer was nuts,and they fell out with each other in the band, how could this possibly work in terms of furthering their careers.

While the album might not be as good as people say it is, it's still better than a lot of sh*te that did well around the world from the same time period.

The Wild Bunch

Why does Glenn Hansard look so tormented, sad and desolate in every bloody picture of him?

fiachr_a

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Why does Glenn Hansard look so tormented, sad and desolate in every bloody picture of him?

Because he grew up in Finglas and got bullied at school?

Birneybau

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Why does Glenn Hansard look so tormented, sad and desolate in every bloody picture of him?

I'd be the same if I was Glen Hansard.

Interpol's "Antics" is better than "Turn on The Bright Lights".

smokedeels

Breeders > Pixies
Sebadoh > Dinosaur Jr

The Wild Bunch

Arctic Monkeys are over rated

daUbiq

seachto7 wrote: »

Nothing, but to call War on Drugs ground breaking would be stretching it seeing as he/they tip their hat to the 80s.

Still very good though.

I quite like the new War on Drugs album, I find it quite uplifting... you're right though, it's not ground breaking, very little modern popular music is ground breaking!

SilverScreen

BrushyMan wrote: »

Ah, come on! It's an OK record. Heaps of 'nothing new'. I'm not sold that it's a gamechanger tho.

Never said it was a game-changer. I just gave it as a recent example of an album that I think is better than decent.

Morgans

Promenade by The Divine Comedy is the greatest Irish album of all time.

mosstin

Morgans wrote: »

Promenade by The Divine Comedy is the greatest Irish album of all time.

Viva Dead Ponies by Fatima Mansions is the greatest Irish album of all time. Cathal Coughlan is also the finest lyricist this country has produced.

Dandelion6

Speaking of Cathal Coughlan here's a really unpopular opinion: Microdisney were boring.

mosstin

Dandelion6 wrote: »

Speaking of Cathal Coughlan here's a really unpopular opinion: Microdisney were boring.

Apart from a few great songs would not disagree.

iomega

smokedeels wrote: »

Breeders > Pixies

Funny.

mosstin

The Irish music alternative music scene, such as it is, is almost uniformly dreadful. Too self-celebrating, po-faced and safe.

fiachr_a

mosstin wrote: »

The Irish music alternative music scene, such as it is, is almost uniformly dreadful. Too self-celebrating, po-faced and safe.

That's because it's too MIDDLE CLASS!

loyatemu

Dandelion6 wrote: »

Speaking of Cathal Coughlan here's a really unpopular opinion: Microdisney were boring.

the idea of Fatima Mansions was much better than the reality - CC gives good interviews but musically there's not much of interest (see also Toasted Heretic).

Kerrigooney

smokedeels wrote: »

Breeders > Pixies
Sebadoh > Dinosaur Jr

I like both The Breeders and Sebadoh but when I read this post my head nearly exploded.

mosstin

loyatemu wrote: »

the idea of Fatima Mansions was much better than the reality - CC gives good interviews but musically there's not much of interest (see also Toasted Heretic).

Bollocks. The three album stretch from Viva to Valhalla was creatively and lyrically that of a band at the peak of their powers.

loyatemu

mosstin wrote: »

Bollocks. The three album stretch from Viva to Valhalla was creatively and lyrically that of a band at the peak of their powers.

this is a thread for unpopular opinions.

One more:

Neither "Nevermind the B0ll0cks" nor "Nevermind" are as good as their reputation or influence would suggest. They're ok, but its rare enough I'd be in the mood to listen to either of them.

iomega

fiachr_a wrote: »

That's because it's too MIDDLE CLASS!

You must write for the NME.

The Wild Bunch

iomega wrote: »

You must write for the NME.

He's right though.

The best music/art/movies/football/literature etc has all come from people with working class backgrounds who went to comprehensive schools.

Some of these Irish bands today have nothing to say and have nothing to play.

Being in an Irish band today is a designer religion- these guys have some preconceived idea of this fabulous lifestyle that they're going to have.

You only have to hear them speak- they're so bland and so safe. And we all know the bands and people I'm talking about

fiachr_a

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Some of these Irish bands today have nothing to say and have nothing to play.

Being in an Irish band today is a designer religion- these guys have some preconceived idea of this fabulous lifestyle that they're going to have.

Same with most Irish movies.

Recognition Scene

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

The best music/art/movies/football/literature etc has all come from people with working class backgrounds who went to comprehensive schools.

Leonard Cohen... checkmate!

BrushyMan

SilverScreen wrote: »

Never said it was a game-changer. I just gave it as a recent example of an album that I think is better than decent.

fair enough. To each their own.

seachto7

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

He's right though.

The best music/art/movies/football/literature etc has all come from people with working class backgrounds who went to comprehensive schools.

Some of these Irish bands today have nothing to say and have nothing to play.

Being in an Irish band today is a designer religion- these guys have some preconceived idea of this fabulous lifestyle that they're going to have.

You only have to hear them speak- they're so bland and so safe. And we all know the bands and people I'm talking about

So, only working class bands have something to say? As long as a band is good, it doesn't matter where they come from.
But when you have the likes of Frank Turner trying to be like Billy Bragg, then that's a joke.
Most Irish bands are sh*t, as opposed to not having anything to say, or not.

SilverScreen

I think people are expecting too much out of Irish bands. We are a small country after all with a quite dispersed population. Ireland doesn't have the resources or large concentrated urban areas to form musical hotbeds. Dublin isn't exactly London or New York.

There's quite a few Irish bands I do enjoy, but the only band to come out of Ireland that I would consider to be among my favourites would be My Bloody Valentine. But even they released their best material while based in London.

The Wild Bunch

seachto7 wrote: »

So, only working class bands have something to say? As long as a band is good, it doesn't matter where they come from.
But when you have the likes of Frank Turner trying to be like Billy Bragg, then that's a joke.
Most Irish bands are sh*t, as opposed to not having anything to say, or not.

All the BEST bands have something to say - fire in their bellies, an us against ther world mentality and a **** the world attitude.

The in gods name do Kodaline, The Corona's and the rest of the mass produced sh*te in this country have to moan about?

S.M.B.

No they don't. Obviously, some great and ground breaking music has come from working class folk but it's certainly no pre-requisite for making good music.

Maybe it's something your appreciate in the music you listen to but it's not something you can use to objectively measure 'great music'

seachto7

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

All the BEST bands have something to say - fire in their bellies, an us against ther world mentality and a **** the world attitude.

The in gods name do Kodaline, The Corona's and the rest of the mass produced sh*te in this country have to moan about?

I don't like the Coronas. I don't get them at all. I don't see what the appeal is, and the singer is woeful. But obviously a fair amount of people do like them.

Where are all the working class bands these days? There is nothing stopping them putting a band together in a bedroom or shed.

I'm in Limerick, and I can't think of the last band, if any band, that came out of so called working class areas. You have a few tracksuited eejits trying to be rappers and that's it.

There are a lot of "ok" bands in Ireland these days. Not bad, but not really that brilliant. Having good connections seems to be half the battle these days... I still think it's also a little harder for bands to get noticed if they are not based in Dublin.

The Minutes. I don't like them. There's an unpopular indie opinion.

The Wild Bunch

seachto7 wrote: »

I don't like the Coronas. I don't get them at all. I don't see what the appeal is, and the singer is woeful. But obviously a fair amount of people do like them.

Where are all the working class bands these days? There is nothing stopping them putting a band together in a bedroom or shed.

I'm in Limerick, and I can't think of the last band, if any band, that came out of so called working class areas. You have a few tracksuited eejits trying to be rappers and that's it.

There are a lot of "ok" bands in Ireland these days. Not bad, but not really that brilliant. Having good connections seems to be half the battle these days... I still think it's also a little harder for bands to get noticed if they are not based in Dublin.

The Minutes. I don't like them. There's an unpopular indie opinion.

This is spot on

fiachr_a

SilverScreen wrote: »

I think people are expecting too much out of Irish bands. We are a small country after all with a quite dispersed population. Ireland doesn't have the resources or large concentrated urban areas to form musical hotbeds. Dublin isn't exactly London or New York.

Someone should type all the quality bands from Wales and Scotland since 2000!

trashcan

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't get Whipping Boy at all.

I'm bewildered that it (HW) is consistently voted the best Irish album of all time - there's a reason it didn't do the business anywhere outside of Ireland.

Furthermore Ireland's record of producing great indie bands is terrible compared to (say) Scotland:

Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Beta Band, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, JAMC, Django Django, Big Country - where are the Irish equivalents?

Empty stadium rock & boybands - that's Ireland's musical legacy

Agree with most of this, don't get Whipping Boy. I'm a big fan of Scotosh bands too, TFC, Trashcan Sinatras, B & S, Aztec Camera. However, there were a few fantastic Irish bands. Stars of Heaven, The Blades, Something Happens, A House. It might be a select few, but they more than stand up to anything else that was released in the eighties, whether they sold shedloads of records or not.

The_Captain

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

He's right though.

The best music/art/movies/football/literature etc has all come from people with working class backgrounds who went to comprehensive schools.

Some of these Irish bands today have nothing to say and have nothing to play.

Being in an Irish band today is a designer religion- these guys have some preconceived idea of this fabulous lifestyle that they're going to have.

You only have to hear them speak- they're so bland and so safe. And we all know the bands and people I'm talking about

The best music comes from middle class folk pretending to be working class, like John Lennon or The Clash

MadYaker

The Arctic Monkeys first album isn't their best.