the steve jenkins blog

I wanted to believe that people on Facebook would be smart enough to understand the level of humor intended by this statement.  The humor has to do with polar opposites.  It has nothing to do with music.  It’s social commentary. That was my intent. But let’s reel this back even further….

A week or so ago, the drummer from The Black Keys decided to dish on an obvious musical target: Nickelback.  Now in case anyone reading this isn’t aware, Nickelback is a multi-platinum band from Canada and for whatever reason, they aren’t cool amongst many sectors of the music listening public.  It’s just your basic AOR, standard meat-and-potatoes corporate rock type of band.  They sound fine. Not my taste, but maybe they aren’t so bad that they deserve all of the dirt that constantly gets flung at them.  It’s beyond just their music though.  Nickelback has a pejorative connotation to it.  If there was a way to empty out a bar in Williamsburg, putting on Nickelback would probably do that…that or charging 9 bucks for a PBR. Bottom line: It’s not high brow shit.  But obviously, someone likes it because those dudes play arenas and are very successful at what they do.  Nobody can deny them that.

Anyhow, this guy from The Black Keys got me thinking: If Nickelback is supposed to be this hated band that is sort of the universal reference for what people perceive as “uncool” then who would be the opposite of that?  

The answer: Radiohead.  

People blindly praise and worship at the alter of Thom Yorke and Co. just as eagerly as people want to dish on Chad Kroeger & his Nickelback bandmates.  They are like the musical Yin & Yang of rock in 2012.   Whenever a highbrow element of music has to be talked about, you can bet the words “Radiohead” will stream from someone’s lips sooner or later.  Thom Yorke’s dog could bark into a delay pedal and im pretty sure someone would buy that shit.  In all fairness, Radiohead’s praise is well-deserved.  Of all the bands who started making records in the 90’s, they are one of the only bands who can still make a great top-to-bottom album. 

My point had to do with the social stigmas associated with each band.  That is what I was poking fun at or trying to make light of.  It had absolutely nothing to do with their music or whether I’m a fan or not. (Incidentally, I’m a big Radiohead fan) It sure did piss a lot of folks off who maybe didn’t take a lot of time to think about what the idea was behind this comment of mine.

I hope my next comment doesn’t piss people off: Some Radiohead fans (based on what I saw in the span of 45 minutes) are humorless assholes.