Mass Murderers (00's)

They may be common but they’re good! What sets these songs apart is that they have survived popularity and (in my mind) remained good. So often a band becomes so big that they change for the worse, leaving behind the fans that got them started. The other major problem is a song we like becomes so popular and overplayed we no longer like it. We really shouldn’t do this, it’s still the same song, however seeing some idiot liking YOUR song is guaranteed to turn you sour. What makes a good song is when it goes through this process of sourification (I have to make up at least one word per episode) and comes out unaffected. Here is a collection of such songs. Most of the songs I picked are the ones that made the bands big, something I usually don’t do, however in line with this week’s theme I figured it’d be appropriate.

1) Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
The critical moment in this song’s career came when some idiot music clip show, So Fresh or something, went round asking people who they’d want to ‘take out’……on a date…..settle down Peter, they don’t know any better, they’re just retarded failed actors doing their job, brainwashing today’s equally retarded youths…..I know who I wanna take out……Anyway this experience didn’t taint the song enough for me to stop liking. I really don’t need to do any explaining of it as pretty much everybody already knows it. To put it simply these guys make songs for girls to dance to….and I like

2) Hate To Say I Told You So – The Hives
No amount of exposure could ever stop “Howlin” Pelle Almqvist from being the coolest front man ever. “Our lowest level is so high….most bands are left behind” – this guy has the best collection of arrogant quotes. But of course it’s all backed up when they come out in they’re stylish white suits and Pelle jumps round yelling in his funny voice. As you can guess, they’re one of my favourite live bands. Just listening to the energetic vibe of this classic song explains why.

3) Autumn Shade – The Vines
For some reason I never got into The Vines at the height of their craze. Everybody at school was talking about them yet I never bothered to go out and investigate. By the time I finally did listen (and love) they were releasing their less impressive second album and about to implode. Even though they’re really not a band anymore it’s great to listen to their first album and reminisce. While they’re most renowned for fast-paced, explosive music, I decided to pick a slower song, which they were equally good at producing

4) Fell In Love With A Girl – The White Stripes
Jack White is undeniably weird. In the context however this is a good thing as it means he is much less likely to conform to public gayness. It definitely hasn’t stopped him and his “sister” (ex-wife) Meg rising to the top in a few short years. Their music, whilst straying a bit in recent years, is typically bare bones rock. They are also renowned for the liking of the colours red, white and black. This song would have to be they’re biggest and to top it off it has a great film clip

5) Hard To Explain – The Strokes
Back when I was blind to the majority of music (not that long ago) this was the only Strokes song I knew, the ‘song where the guy sings in a slurred voice’. Isn’t it unfortunate then that I saw them with this knowledge alone, when just a few months later I could have enjoyed them SO much more? For I would go on to discover that not only is EVERY one of their songs sung in a slurred voice but they’re pretty much all great. This is off their higherly acclaimed first album, though I like them all

This was written January 18, 2005. What? Why?