It’s been a couple days since we got back from our western sojourn with pals Death From Above 1979. It was a total blast, with a wealth of highlights including great shows, much partying and even a trip to the gun range for some face time with some heavy ordinance.
As far as the shows went, we had a great response from the crowds with mosh pits all three nights and lots of people coming up to us after we played. Thanks to everyone who said hello — we totally appreciate it.
But as the immediacy of the events recede, it’s now time for the honoured tradition of trolling the internet to gauge the response. We couldn’t find any mention of the Edmonton show, and of the four or five Commodore reviews, three made mention of Biblical. In the spirit of the gun play that started our adventure, we present Biblical: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
The Good:
Georgia Straight (Weekly)
Things started off, however, with the classic-rock stylings of the group’s Hogtown pals Biblical. Featuring Grainger’s brothers-in-arms, bassist Nick Sewell and six-stringer/keyboardist Andrew Scott, both from his solo backup band the Mountains, Biblical barrelled through fuzzed-out psych-blues and the occasional punky blast, which got the Commodore crowd primed for the resurrected main course.
Just the facts, m’am. I’d expect no less from a legitimate publication like the Straight — they’re a Vancouver institution. This paragraph totally sums up who we are, what we did and why we were there.
The Bad:
Vancouver Music Review (Blog)
As fans new and old arrived, some wearing vintage DFA1979 tees and some buying them new at the merch stand, fellow Toronto band Biblical took the stage. I honestly can’t be surprised that DFA1979 would pick a hard rock band to open, so I knew I would have to grin and bear it. Biblical was like a cliche 80′s rock band you see in a movie. Long hair, all male, gruff voices and loud guitars.
I don’t even know if this is bad — I’m just going by ‘grin and bear it’. In fact, we’re all pretty stoked about being ‘like’ a cliché 80’s rock band. Does he mean like Jeff Healy in Roadhouse? If you have some better ideas leave them in the comments.
The Ugly:
3am Revelations (Blog)
Opening the night was Biblical, who were pretty much the epitome of a generic hard rock band. Imagine Eagles of Death Metal with all satire stripped, and less talent, and that’s pretty much what it was. They started off with some power chords before the vocals came in, a gruff, clichéd growl, and nothing in their set really sounded all that original, a few times their influences rubbed through a bit too much. While I am not sure I would classify them as “bad”, they were definitely generic and forgettable.
I went back and forth a bit about whether this should be Bad or Ugly. I decided on Ugly since this guy seems to really have it out for us. Have a quick look around his blog to see what he deems worthy of coverage — there was absolutely no way this guy possessed the musical vocabulary to understand where we were coming from. While noting that our ‘influences rubbed through a bit too much’, it’s hard to believe he has any idea of what those influences might be. I’m actually tempted to send him a record, but alas — in his bearded, bespectacled world, there is no room for our brand of satire-free rock.
*Update: Twitter user @onefuctwop has pointed out the reviewer’s Last FM playlist has Barenaked Ladies as his ‘2nd most played’ artist. Ugly indeed!
That concludes our round-up.
Love,
Biblical
What is wrong with bearded bespectacled dudes like Jay and I?
You guys are what’s wrong with the world. Beards and glasses are for uncles.
Hey, a band confident in its success never bothers singling out bad reviews. There will be people that like what you do, and there will be people that hate what you do, and you can’t go around giving bad reviews of everyone else’s bad reviews. People have a prerogative not to like you, and write about it – their readers probably share the same tastes as them, and that’s really the point.
Jeez guys. As someone who writes for a music blog myself, that’s pretty uncool. By all means, celebrate the good reviews and post them for your fans to see. If someone doesn’t dig what your’re doing though, just move on. You don’t need to question their musical knowledge or taste. That’s a quick way to get pegged as being immature and unprofessional. It sounds like the “bad” and “ugly” writers were just trying to give their honest opinions.
People absolutely have a prerogative. And just as they enjoy the right to write about it on a blog, we have a right to write about it on ours. These two entries made it on to our site because they strike us as funny and bizarre. But make no mistake, what we’re actually goofing on here is the indie rock blogosphere.
Case in point:
“As someone who writes for a music blog myself”
Not really in good taste. And why pick on the Barenaked Ladies?
Guys – looking forward to hearing the new record. I never would have known about these negative reviews (2 out of three) had you not posted them here. Interesting strategy. The 3AM Revelations dude is a good guy, btw. -GL
I just had to: http://youtu.be/AfdTnpV03p8?t=17s
Wow, it’s like some giant taboo was shattered, or something.
Our post was about having a laugh and starting the conversation, good or bad. We posted the bad ones too because they made for a better piece, hands down.
And it looks like it worked — all three sites got a bump in traffic.
that’s pretty harsh, LESS talent than Eagles Of Death Metal?
Is that even possible?
It’s only recently become possible — the result of a rigorous practice schedule.
Me and my wife saw you last night and houston and bought your LP as soon as your set was over. Some.reviewers dont see the beauty of the hypnotic quality of your music. As far as complaining about power chords, thats just dumb. And you guys never had a stal progression. I was kentertained the whole time.
Glad you dug it! We had a blast.