4B — Thursday, January 14, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
By DANIELLE IMMERMAN
Daily Arts Writer
We all know To Pimp A Butterfly
and Currents, but 2015 was a pretty
impressive year for rock music
too. However, many musicians
have shown concern that rock
music is dying out, arguing that
rock bands aren’t getting the
attention
they
deserve.
Just
this year, Billie Joe Armstrong
slammed the music industry
with two tweets in reaction to
the MTV VMAs. Armstrong, like
myself, was disappointed that
the VMAs didn’t feature even
one rock ‘n’ roll band. He went
on to argue that there are several
young rock bands headlining
music festivals, yet none of those
bands were featured on one of the
most televised nights in the music
industry.
Armstrong has a valid point.
Most of the music that is
highly publicized and known
by the mass public is pop and
rap; this isn’t to say that pop
and rap are inherently worse
than
rock
music,
however
there is a certain emotion and
importance to rock music that
other genres can’t possibly
emulate. The lack of widespread
media attention paid to rock
bands is just one example of
how they’re not getting the
homage they deserve. In the
Daily’s Best Albums of 2015,
with the exception of Courtney
Barnett, not one album could be
considered full-on rock. Sure,
Tame Impala is “psychedelic
rock,” but I personally consider
them
more
indie-alternative
than anything else. Aside from
maybe Tame Impala, not one
rock band made our Top 10 list.
Of course each album on the list
is great, but why don’t people
have
as
much
enthusiasm
about the fucking phenomenal
rock albums that dropped in
2015? Is it that, because these
albums
aren’t
mainstream,
no one picks them as the best
music of 2015? Are these bands
not talked about enough to be
considered the best of the year?
Truthfully, I don’t know. But
what I do know is that 2015 saw
an amazing year for rock music;
below I have included my own
Best of 2015 list, but this time
only rock music is presented
to you. I hope you take the
time to listen to each album
because they’re important and
marvelous and will get you
hyped for the resurgence of
rock ‘n’ roll.
1. Mister Asylum — Highly
Suspect
I’m guessing that 90 percent
of you don’t know of Highly
Suspect — I didn’t, at least, until
my best friend incessantly went
on about how she interviewed
the most bad-ass, talented band
the other night. She went on
to play their debut album for
me, Mister Asylum, on repeat
until I, too, became addicted
to Highly Suspect. The Cape
Cod natives have made quite
the first impression with their
debut album seeing that they
are nominated for Best Rock
Album and Best Rock Song
at the 58th Annual Grammy
Awards. The ten-track album
is pure rock genius; it’s angsty,
raw, full of emotion and an all-
around stand out album. My
personal favorites are “Bath
Salts” and “Mom.” One piece
of information that I gathered
from my friend’s interview
with the band is that all of their
songs are literal. “Bath Salts” is
about the time Johnny Stevens,
the lead vocalist, tried bath
salts and “Mom” is about his
mom. You know what you’re
listening to is real, and I think
in a day and age when so much
of what we hear is warped and
fake, listening to an honest yet
complex album is rare. It also
doesn’t hurt that the Stevens
wears gold Chanel nail polish;
any man who rocks nail polish,
let alone Chanel nailpolish, is
an ace in my book.
2. Yours, Dreamily — The Arcs
Usually when members of a
band take on side projects, fans
get worried that this will be the
demise of the original band. In
the case of Dan Auerbach, his
side project, The Arcs, turned
out to be a massive success —
arguably a project that could be
just as big as The Black Keys.
The band has been on tour pro-
moting their debut album and
they’re lined up for Coachella
this April. Of course The Black
Keys are alive and well, but hav-
ing not one but two successful
rock bands is an impressive feat
for a young guy like Auerbach.
Yours, Dreamily clearly outlines
how The Arcs differ from The
Black Keys — The Arcs contains
more soul and blues than Auer-
bach’s previous work. My favor-
ite song on Yours, Dreamily is
easily “Pistol Made of Bones.”
It’s a smooth, catchy classic
with a rhythm that stands out
from the other songs that com-
prise the album. In truth, I love
every song on the compilation.
Every song is memorable, and
to me, that’s a telling sign of a
truly great album.
3. Wasted On A Dream — Jeff
the Brotherhood
When I interviewed my fave
Cleveland band, The Moxies,
they made a huge point to lis-
ten to Jeff the Brotherhood, so
I did. I found their music to be
mesmerizing; it contains ele-
ments of psychedelic and garage
rock, making for a unique blend
of guitar chords and other
crazy instrumental components
that would be difficult for any
other band to replicate. What I
love most about this Nashville
duo is their ability to blend dif-
ferent instruments into every
song. For example, in “Black
Cherry Pie,” my favorite song
on the album, the flute makes
an appearance in the intro and
has its own solo moment mid-
way through the song. Modern
music almost never utilizes the
flute, which makes this band
and album so unique. They
aren’t afraid to experiment, and
the result is an album one could
never tire of.
4. Tell Me I’m Pretty — Cage
the Elephant
For some reason, I feel like
Cage’s
latest
album
hasn’t
gotten a lot of attention. I don’t
know why, though, because it’s
fabulous and Cage is fabulous.
Tell Me I’m Pretty is infinitely
more
sophisticated
than
Melophobia
and
the
band’s
other earlier work; I would go
so far as to say this album rocks
even harder. “Sweetie Little
Jean” is definitely one of the
best songs off of the album — it
sounds very Arctic Monkeys-
esque, which is never a bad
thing. Personally, my favorite
songs are easily “Too Late To
Say Goodbye” and “Cold Cold
Cold.” The former is full of
sadness and passion while the
latter is slightly more upbeat
and heavy on the classic rock
sound — dare I say reminiscent
of The Rolling Stones. Actually,
the more I listen to this album,
the more I realize that I could
pick any one of these songs as
my favorite. That’s just how
pretty Tell Me I’m Pretty is.
5. That’s The Spirit — Bring
Me The Horizon
There were many albums I
considered for the last spot on
my Top 5 Best Rock Albums of
2015 list. I considered The Cribs,
Modest Mouse, or Courtney
Barnett, but finally, I decided
to take a risk and include Bring
Me The Horizon. I’ve seen
Bring Me The Horizon perform
live on several occasions, and
each
time
I’ve
temporarily
lost my hearing. They are
first and foremost a hard rock
band from England. They are
often lauded by Alternative
Press and are highly regarded
as the less-extreme chaps of
the post-hardcore/hard rock
community, which is why I was
surprised when my “Discover
Weekly” on Spotify featured
one of their songs. I was
listening to “Follow You” and
jamming out — and then was
shocked when I looked at what
band I was listening to. Bring
Me The Horizon didn’t scream
at all during “Follow You.” It
sounded nothing like them —
it was lovely and strange all at
the same time. I chose That’s
The Spirit as my last pick for
2015 because I think Bring Me
The Horizon has a tremendous
amount of potential as a rock
band — they’re already an
amazing hard rock band, but
I think there’s a lot to be said
for a vocalist and artist who
can easily transition between
rock and harder, borderline
metal
music.
Additionally,
the lead vocalist, Oli Sykes,
has
important
messages
in
each song given his battle
with
addiction.
His
words,
combined
with
his
sound,
are unparalleled in any other
modern rock music; I get that
hard rock isn’t for everyone, but
I think it’s an underrated genre
that should get more attention
than it currently does.
300 ENTERTAINMENT
Anyway, here’s Wonderwall.
The top five rock
albums of last year
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Fear and loathing
at Totoro, alone
By ADAM DEPOLLO
Daily Arts Writer
French
philosopher
Michel
Foucault once said “people know
what they do; frequently they
know why they do what they do;
but what they don’t know is what
what they do does.”
The final part of that quote —
about people not knowing what
what they do does — reveals some-
thing important, I think, about the
experience of being an American
person in the 21st century. We tend
to think of ourselves as more or
less fully in control of our thoughts
and actions — that at our best (and
at our deepest, most fundamental
level) we are fully self-aware, self-
actualized,
self-controlled
and
self-motivated individuals, wad-
dling around our allotted patch
of existence and doing things that
have a limited set of prescribed
outcomes which are completely
under our control.
Hence the logic of the Iraq War:
Step 1: Military intervention to
depose dictator
Step 2: Freedom, Democracy,
National Self-Determination
Or the logic of Long John Sil-
ver’s:
Step 1: Make a Super Sampler
with 4,610 mg of sodium
Step 2: Freedom, Consumer
Capitalism, Dietary Self-Determi-
nation
This logic assumes, of course,
that the Waddling Individual
is humanity’s natural essence,
and that, after having removed
whatever obstacle might impede
their waddle, the Individuals will
resume their natural course and
plod onward toward a state of
sublime self-sufficiency embody-
ing the highest ideals of Liberty,
Equality and the Pursuit of Hap-
piness. And despite the fact that
actions we take based on this
assumption usually leave our Wad-
dling Individuals fleeing from ISIS
forces until they collapse in the
dust from a hush puppy-induced
stroke, we’re reluctant to put an
asterisk on unfettered individual-
ism because, you know, freedom.
But one of the biggest problems
with our refusal to question indi-
vidualism can be felt much closer
to home. Namely, it prevents us
from seeing that there really is no
such thing as “freedom” in and of
itself. It’s a relative term — there’s
only ever freedom from some-
thing, liberation from some form
of oppression. The same goes for
the idea of an “individual” — you
can only ever be an individual
when there are a large number of
people somewhere who aren’t that
(sheeple, squares, phonies, etc.).
And since we all like to think of
ourselves as individuals all the
time, that leaves us perpetually
lumping the rest of humanity into
a sort of incoherent blob which is
really only there to remind us that
we aren’t it.
At this point, a properly self-
aware individual might be asking
him or herself whether it’s pos-
sible to actually be an individual
and also believe that everyone
else on the planet is also an indi-
vidual at the same time. If we’re all
individuals, after all, then doesn’t
that mean we’re all just sheeple
with illusions of grandeur? If you
do something — anything — that
might suggest to another person
that you are, in fact, an individual,
aren’t you really just telling them
that they’re part of the herd? And
if you take this line of thinking to
its logical conclusion, then, when
you get right down to it, interact-
ing with another person in any
way whatsoever is a lot like forc-
ing them to acknowledge that you
exist, i.e. that you are enough of an
individual to warrant being differ-
entiated from the physical space
that you occupy, the implication
being of course that they are, by
virtue of your existence, a sheep.
And so, if you’re a real Ameri-
can who believes wholeheartedly
in the value of individualism as
a universal ideal, I think it’s safe
to say that the only truly ethical
way to practice your individual-
ism is to avoid, as much as possible,
doing anything that might suggest
to another person that you are, in
fact, an individual.
Now, if you haven’t already
guessed, I’m a vegetarian for moral
reasons. I’ve taken the cliché “you
are what you eat” to heart and real-
ized that the daily choice of what
and how to consume is really, in
our consumerist culture, a test of
faith — an unending trial by fire
where we see whether our person-
al integrity is able to withstand the
constant temptations of cost and
convenience.
And that’s why, when I’m look-
ing to put my patriotism and faith
in American individualism to the
test, there’s only one way to eat:
alone. And the best place to do that
in Ann Arbor is, without question,
Totoro on State Street.
Totoro is a bastion of dignified
solitude, where each meal is per-
fectly choreographed to require
the least amount of verbal con-
tact with the wait staff, minimiz-
ing the number of times that you
might be required to suggest to
another person that you aren’t a
piece of furniture and maximizing
your opportunities for silent self-
reflection.
After walking into the res-
taurant, you’ll only be asked two
questions, which can be answered
with as few as two words: “How
many?” (one) and “Anything to
drink?” (no). Having suffered
that necessary evil, you can make
your sushi order by simply plac-
ing unimposing checkmarks next
to the appropriate selections on
a piece of laminated paper. The
meal comes with complimentary
soup, salad and an Andes after-
dinner mint. But if, like me, you
order vegetarian, the wait staff
will, without asking, refrain from
bringing you the miso soup (made
with fish broth), saving you from
the nearly insurmountable moral
quandary of deciding whether a
minor breach of your vegetarian-
ism would be a greater or lesser
evil than bringing the problem up
to your server.
From then on, your multi-
course meal simply comes to
your table in regular waves — not
unlike time itself, which that most
American individual Henry David
Thoreau once wrote (anticipating
the ethical 21st century American
individualist’s approach to the rest
of humanity) “is but the stream
(we) go a-fishing in.” You’re left
free to eat like the true American
you are, with the contented silence
of an unperturbed patriot, staring
down into your pile of wasabi to
avoid eye contact with the room
full of individuals whose freedom
you’ve done your part to secure.
Hardcore bands help
support Toys for Tots
By SELENA AGUILERA
Daily Arts Writer
Six bands were listed on a
Facebook page for a Dec. 11
event that was titled “Mosh for
a Cause.” I pressed the “inter-
ested” button because, honestly,
who wouldn’t be intrigued by
that title? “Mosh for a Cause” is
a hardcore metal show played at
Simon’s Bar in Allen Park, Mich-
igan. Six bands come to play for
free and the admission is eight
dollars. But, there’s a catch; it’s
only four dollars if you bring a
toy.
That’s correct, there is a hard-
core metal show / Toys for Tots
extravaganza held in one of the
most mundane places in Michi-
gan. Six bands all cram into a
tiny bar that sits next to a Dollar
Tree, and they play their music
loudly as a crowd of people basi-
cally murders each other — and
they do this all for free. All of the
money made (and obviously toys
collected) goes toward the Toys
for Tots foundation.
Last year, “Mosh for a Cause”
was presented by a well-known
local band manager, Kyle Yoder.
He had a van full of toys to
donate and made enough money
to feed 12 families. From that
point on Yoder has put on two
benefit shows and said he was
excited to throw another Toys
for Tots show. Once the word got
out, 30 bands contacted Yoder
to volunteer for the show this
year, so the selection was rough,
but Yoder said he was sure he
picked bands that would please
the crowd.
The first band, Of Cities,
apparently lacked a bassist and
some of their equipment, but
that didn’t stop the crowd from
engaging in a collective head
nod when the music started to
scream through the speakers.
The next band was The Major
Minor and they came as a sur-
prise to everyone. Made up of a
guitarist, bass player and a bad
ass female drummer, The Major
Minor was a pop punk band in
the middle of a hardcore metal
show. I guess I never got the
memo about hardcore defenders
also taking a liking to some pop
punk, but the band’s set was well
appreciated amid the heavier
music that was played that night.
Following the pop punk was
Amnesty, who came all the way
from Canada to do the show.
Screaming, “Everyone’s a fuck-
ing fake,” the singer’s vocals
were clean and a few people in
the crowd started to slam dance.
I saw some guy that dropped off
a set of Hot Wheels cars in the
toy box looking pissed off and
swinging his arms.
Argus and Change Is were
the next two bands, and both
put on a great show. Argus had
five members and their music
was clean and well performed.
I think the crowd was the most
energized during their set. A
girl with blue hair started hard-
core dancing with the guys, and
Yoder got in the pit himself.
Argus covered “Psychosocial”
by Slipknot, making the crowd
go wild.
Like Statues was the head-
lining band. Robert Gibbons,
the guitarist, spoke on behalf
of the rest of the band, saying
they wanted to do a benefit show
because they “want to give back.
We want kids to have a better
holiday
season.”
Addressing
the stereotypes associated with
hardcore culture, Gibbons spoke
of breaking down the wall peo-
ple put in front of the hardcore
music scene.
“People look at us and think
‘Wow, you’re a terrible person’
and they don’t even know us.
We’re out here doing something
for a good cause and I hope they
realize we’re not all terrible peo-
ple,” Gibbons said.
With this inspired feeling
Gibbons placed in my heart, I
eagerly watched Like Statues kill
it. The few words Chris Fortuna
(front man) said exemplified his
amazing stage presence, which
engaged the crowd. Plus, he was
wearing a Michigan windbreak-
er (Go Blue!). They played songs
with titles like “Psyche” and
“Insomnia,” tapping into every-
one’s inner demons. The show
was great and defied all stereo-
types that this certain group of
people has placed on them.
So, if I was asked to go to
another hardcore metal Toys
for Tots show I’d be there in
a heart beat. Thank you, Kyle
Yoder, for having the wonderful
idea of gathering, in his words,
“the most pissed off people to
do a Toys for Tots show,” it was
definitely one of the most metal
things I have ever witnessed.
MUSIC NOTEBOOK