Hype and The Strokes

Hope no one minds a few more words about The Strokes, preferable to more words about Michael Jackson (who would also be a worthy subject for a column about hype) or Britney Spears (a cynical young exploitationist who is essentially a porn star who won't do a money shot). I've been heartened by the fact that some young folks have taken a shine to the N.Y.C. rock band - I've heard 'em in a few indie record stores, at clothing stores and other retail locations.

I've also heard and read tons of incessant bitching about them. I don't mind the bitching based on musical grounds - though I like the record, you have to acknowledge that they can be pretty derivative at times. But the focus on the hype, whether it's press or paid publicity is unfair to the band. Moreover, it is irrelevant and ill informed.

The Strokes were initially embraced by the Brit press and now a lot of American journos have joined in. Naturally, it is impossible for the band to actually live up to the raves. But the excitement they have generated wasn't the product of a marketing campaign - it sprang from the most basic organic principle - people seeing and hearing the band and liking them. There's no chicken and egg game going on here - any paid publicity and promotion came after they had established a foothold in Buzzland.

For those who have a problem with the hype, and find that's reason enough to dismiss or disparage The Strokes, I have a suggestion - fuck off. Anyone who lives in some hippie dream or neo-punk indie aesthetic that disavows any and all forms of marketing is so disengaged from what's going on in Planet Earth 2001 that he or she has zero credibility.

The negative reaction to this hype stems from some odd notion that equates any marketing efforts or commercial aspirations as somehow diminishing the art. This notion can only survive if you ignore history. Should we rip 18th century painters who created portraits of wealthy patrons? They were sell outs, weren't they? Dickens shouldn't be taught in academic institutions - his books were usually first written as newspaper installments - populist tripe. Cole Porter had the gall to actually write songs that aspired to mass appeal. Moron.

The Beatles were the most hyped band of their time. Yet this didn't hurt their music one iota. In fact, the hype that helped lay the foundation of their unprecedented commercial success actually gave them more freedom. One could argue that but for their early saturation and sales, they may never have scaled the heights they did (and then allowed others to follow in their wake). Though I haven't liked the end product, Radiohead has pretty much done the same thing - hit records lead to more risk taking. Yeah, it's not always true, but the fact is, marketing and commercial success have no inherent connection to the ultimate music created by the performer.

And the aversion to hype is not some badge of aesthetic purity. If you like (insert hip indie band) rather than Journey, that's a matter of taste. But if you trumpet the virtues of Beulah, because they are indie, over The Strokes, all you're doing is making a consumer statement.

Hipness is not some state of grace - it's more of a decision to keep some distance from the mainstream without totally alienating yourself from society at large. Take the character of Seymour (played by Steve Buscemi) in the excellent movie Ghost World. On one hand, he decries a society where people buy Nike shoes and other corporately mandated products - he doesn't want to be one of the sheep. On the other hand, he is an obsessive collector of old blues and jazz 78s, along with other old pop culture artifacts (funded by his marketing job at the corporate HQ of a fast food chain). He's not down on the consumer nation, just the choices (or lack thereof) being made.

And he is miserable - he makes it quite clear that he is aware that his consumer choices, and inability to compromise certain personal standards to the mainstream of society, serve to drive a wedge between him and society. The movie makes many points. One is how individuality can be stifled in the current consumerist milieu. But the movie recognizes that in the end we are all consumers, and can offer no solutions how to solve this conundrum of how to be out of the mainstream and still fit in. Thankfully, perhaps, very few of us are as extreme as Seymour. But the focus on the hype of The Strokes stems from the little inner Seymour that speaks to a lot of us.

If your notions of pop music are so exclusive that the hype surrounding The Strokes offends you, I presume that you also shop only at farmer's markets, make your own clothing and plan to home school your children. But if you realize that The Strokes, like all artists, are just vehicles to be consumed and enjoyed, then you must also realize that whatever hype they are getting is all part of the game - when the wheel stopped spinning, the ball landed on their number, that's all. And you realize that the music would sound the same, regardless of how many ads have been bought and how many articles have been written.

___________________________________________________

To reach any other page contained in this month's update on Fufkin.com, read the home page for the appropriate link and click on it. You can also search the site from any page using the search box located at the top of each page. Merely type in the word, phrase, name of the band, recording, name of the Fufkin writer that you are looking for or Whatever in the search box, and then click on "Search". If you would like to e-mail us, go to the About Us page for a list of e-mail addresses.

Go back to the home page by clicking here

____________________________________________________