Watching The Monster Mutate

I've always been an avid observer of how music transforms into different genres and sub-genres. It's like having a seven-headed Hydra for a pet: everytime you cut off one of its heads, a couple of new heads grow from the bloody stump. Yep, I've been a keen watcher of musical mutations - up until the 90's.

With the coming of the new millenium, I seemed to have lost a good deal of interest in checking out the current music scene. I mean, after the thrill of watching grunge rise and fall, there really hasn't been much to watch in music, for me. I guess that comes with age. But wait, no. Age has nothing to do with it. I could be 80 but still be bang in tune with what's going on in music. I guess tt's just that I can't find anything to write about in today's music that really interests me.

Nothing.

A lot of new acts today strike me as absolutely lazy in coming up with really engaging original stuff. They're too lazy to write new stuff so they stick to covering old tried and tested chestnuts. And if ever they do get the tiny inspiration to move their asses to write their own song, I almost always never see or hear anything fresh from it. I mean, it's like eating the same dish everyday at a restaurant, but each time the waiter calls it by a different name.

Also, a lot of new bands today are populated by the so-called third-wave-of-emo types: guys who wear their bleeding hearts on their CD sleeves and whose main purpose in life is to come across as vulnerable and sensitive new age dweebs. Now, I have nothing against people who are really like that. That's who they are. But if somebody wants to use that as a marketing tool, well maybe they should just - I dunno - kill themselves and leave achingly sad suicide notes so the world can see just how vulnerable and sensitive they are. Besides, in some instances, suicide (or just plain death) have proven to be a very effective marketing tool.

And that another thing that I find really boring about today's music scene. EVERYTHING IS SO FUCKING FOCUSED ON IMAGE AND MARKETING AN IMAGE! I know the music scene is a business. And I know that you do have to do certain marketing moves to make sure you don't just survive but also thrive. But come on, man! A lot of times, the scene markets a lot of acts who are certainly lacking in talent, originality, and potential. These days anybody can become a recording star! I know that's democracy at work, and I'm all for democracy; but if things don't perk up really soon, we'll all be like the late fifties after the fall of the true originators of rock n roll when truckloads of non-talent Elvis wannabes took over the scene singing about saccharine subjects like crushes and undying romantic love. (Excuse me while I throw up.) As it is, I'm already getting sick of all the Fabians running around stadiums worldwide.

Who's Fabian, you say?

That's exactly my point.