And if you don't know who Exene Cervenka is, that just means you don't know your 80s punk, so don't say "Exene who?" Look into your own soul and ask why you are not more informed about punk rock music.
ADDED: This story made me want to show you something I read yesterday when Meade and I were debating about whether a place was "twee," and it became necessary to narrow down exactly what "twee" is supposed to mean. (Did you know "twee" originated as baby-talking the word "sweet"?) Anyway, this — "Twee time: Can we stop the sweet?" — was written in 2011:
"But twee now is almost a value set," said Lisle Mitnik, guitarist for Very Truly Yours, Chicago's best-known twee offering to the latest resurgence of twee-inflected rock. "It's a rejection of societal pressures, a denial of coolness, punk without anger. It can be precious, but a precious moment can also be beautiful."What was that edge that no longer cuts? What is this sweetness that doesn't cloy?
Indeed, if there's a reason for our current twee proliferation, it's probably here: When every other innocuous TV show and commercial and pop song and animated movie requires the kind of "edge" once associated with a more cantankerous strain of pop culture, what could be more contrarian than a hand-stitched, sunshiney smile delivered without an ounce of detectable irony?
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31 comments:
Yet another example of why I don't pay attention to entertainers outside of an entertainment context.
I must not think bad thoughts...
I must not think bad thoughts...
"This was supposed to be the New World,…"
Only god can make a twee.
Narcissistic Internet Psycho says:
Perhaps you think I am too good to be true, that I must be a hoax, an illusion. You must trust me: I am real, I have bones and flesh and I am indeed super smart. My insight into you is real, too: I know you better than you do, you are not like the other women, you have a soul, not shallow emptiness. I do believe your reticence is holding you back from understanding how great I am and how amazing it would be for you to be with me. What must I do to prove my reality to you, that how I see the world is True? Shall I make a Grand Statement? Shall I punish others for their shallowness and for their facades of happiness? Will seeing me on the news prove to you my Worth? I have many ideas, I have written them in my book: I would love you to read it before Anything Happens. I read the comments of women on blogs and I imagine what they must look like naked.
People don't know who she is because X sucked. Lee Ving, now there is a celebrity.
X had a few pretty songs I can remember. But the singing was just terrible. Whiny, droning and anemic.
Aged Punk Semi-Star says:
I fought for things you twee young f**ks take don't even understand. In my day you had to fight the conformists at every step for the right to be you, bruised beautiful you, and now you've taken that fight and turned it into Tweets and Blips and Hipster corduroy. I used to have bleeding fingers from taking out my anger at oppression on my bass, and now you all have soft baby hands, we've become a nation of soft baby hands, I hate your soft baby hands and your soft baby songs, hate them. I also hate your shoes: we used to wear shoes that could kick the man, f**kers, we'd kick the man if we had to. I hate your shoes and your soft baby hands.
Aged Punk Semi-Star says:
You're all so damned soft, this world has made you veal. I had the safety pin pulled out of my nipple at a Punk Against the Pricks show, and I just kept givin' it to the man, it was a war and we were fighting the Corporations and the People who headed the Corporations, especially the Vice-Presidents of the Corporations, they are the worst, the Vice Presidents because all they want to be is President of a Corporation, bastards. And now -- now you sell your twee songs to the Corporations, the whole f**king Fast-Food-Soda-Pop-Industrial Complex. If I were younger I'd kick your ugly-shoe-wearing asses with my bass, BAM! and write a song about it. I hate your shoes and your soft baby hands.
This calls for a John Doe investigation.
Aged Punk Semi-Star says:
We gave you Fear and the Germs and you've gone back to f**kin' Crosby, Stills and Nash. The only thing I hate more than the Vice Presidents of Corporations are rich smug hippies and the soft baby-handed bearded trash that wants to be them all over again. I kicked James Taylor's ass at a Charity Concert in the Eighties with my ass-kicking shoes, now I have to kick his ass all over again because some dumb-ass dumb ass has re-written 'Fire and Rain'? I hate your shoes and your soft baby hands.
The bad singing was Exene. John Doe wasn't bad at all, and Billy Zoom was a terrific guitarist!
Aged Punk Semi-Star says:
I eat Oppression raw for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I shit Anger; now you all sit in your cloying pajamas and watch Corporate TV shows about baby-handed Corporate chefs and their twee Organic seasonings and mush. The only sauce I need on my food is Righteous Indignation, big f**king spoonfuls of Righteous Indignation. We punks broke it all apart so that you could rebuild something better, and this is what you've done? You're not fit to eat the scabs off of my fresh 'F**k You' tattoo. I hate your shoes and your soft baby hands.
I knew her slightly in that late seventies/early eighties period. She was always a bit nutty, but perfectly pleasant to me. Much better looking in person than see was in photos. I am disappointed she's gone off the edge to this extent. Over the years I've had people I know relate some not so nice encounters with her.
At that time X was amazing club band. They played some pf the best shows I ever saw at venues like The Hong Kong Cafe, Starwood or Whiskey a Go Go. Their recordings don't come close to capturing how good they were in that short period. It's something that didn't fully transfer to playing in bigger places.
Look into your own soul and ask why you are not more informed about punk rock music.
Because it stinks. Go listen to va pensiero or o mio babbino caro or nessun dorma or la donna e mobile.
I was a little too young to see X in their prime, but have happily seen them live a number of times over the last few years. Maybe it's an acquired taste, but I always thought (still do) the combination of John & Exene's singing styles was one of my favorite sounds to ever come out of punk rock. Also, X has to be the most artistically talented punk band ever, certainly the most talented out of SoCal (of course, in punk rock, "talent" can sometimes be detrimental).
It's a shame she promoted some of this conspiracy shit on twitter. Having political views in various spots on the libertarian / conservative spectrum and having grown up immersed in punk rock & comix & visual art, I long ago separated political expressions from the artists whose work I enjoy. I've heard & read some truly embarrassingly inane bullshit on news & politics from people who I think are otherwise creative geniuses.
OK, EDH (partially) beat me to the punch, but I think we need to find out John Doe's opinion of the John Doe investigation, how Billy Zoom feels about the Zionist Organization Of Madison, and whether DJ Bonebrake has every suffered a fibula fracture.
Exene C: the world's a mess, it's in my kiss
Elliot R: the world's a mess because I can't get kissed
I'm reasonably certain I made a reference to Exene Cervenka as an investigator in a comment I left on one of your John Doe investigation posts. I thought it was funny. Garnering no response, I figured nobody who read it knew who she was.
More likely people automatically skip my comments. I don't blame them.
don't say "Exene who?"
Exene who?
Look into your own soul and ask why you are not more informed about punk rock music.
Why, Ann, because I'm better than you.
"...X has to be the most artistically talented punk band ever, certainly the most talented out of SoCal...."
Um, I'd have to go with the Minutemen for that superlative.
Most artistically talented punk band ever: Wire
Most talented out of SoCo - I'd give that one to X
Most talented punks with heart: The Buzzcocks
Most influential punk band ever: Uncle Tupelo - because unlike The Ramones, Sex Pistols or other usual suspects, it's influence goes beyond punk, both directly and indirectly i.e. through Wilco and Jeff Tweedy
FWIW, Exene appears to have fully retracted the 'hoax' charge. Here's her full statement, posted (naturally) on Facebook and Twitter:
A statement from Exene:
I want to apologize for using the word ‘hoax’ in a comment I made on social media. I realize people have died in these violent events and we have all experienced that in our own lives. No one wants anyone else to ever have to go through that.
The point I am always trying to make is that we need to start thinking critically, looking past the headlines at all available information and make an informed opinion. My issue is with the media’s coverage of events that will shape our public policy and laws for generations to come. We all need to be involved in that debate but we cannot contribute unless we have accurate truthful and complete information about what happened at any of these events.
The hatred, rage and intolerance of ones opinions and the threatening language that I have been receiving through the media makes me realize that this is not a path I want to be on. I don’t want to be a source of hatred and rage. I don’t like it being directed at me and I don’t want to create it in anyone’s mind. It was not my intent.
I wasn’t expecting this kind of response to a comment I made, but it has been a wakeup call and has radically altered my own views as to how I want to live in this world. I always try to do what I think is right. I’ve always been very vocal and opinionated, but this experience with the media has not been positive, nor productive.
It’s only through positive energy that things will get better in this country for all of us.
Me again: so the pushback was non-positive and unpleasant. Exene did not enjoy the experience, and now she wants to be a ray of light and source of positive energy in the world. Good to know - maybe she should go back on tour with X.
She had to leave Los Angeles.
'Come Back To Me' is a very powerful song about grief and loss. Some of those families may take refuge in this song of hers, ironically.
Singing out of key, and syncopation, was always kind of the point anyway.
X, Shoot Out the Lights: http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p=X+shoot+out+the+lights
Back in the day, I saw X open for Oingo Boingo. Amazing concert. Billy Zoom was a great talent, but also fun to watch on stage.
X did a free concert at Cal State Fullerton in 1984, on the old Performing Arts Lawn. Exene was drunk off her ass. But it was free, so whaddya want.
Love the band, and love their energy. But I will never understand why musicians feel like their political opinions are important. Hey, Exene: Nobody cares about your politics. We like your songs, and your band. Please play music, and STFU. #kthxbai
Pianoman, maybe you should Exene some slack - she gets confused, flying over the dateline
@LarryK: You're right, I should. Because the days change in an instant.
We're desperate get used to it
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