Get Happy!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Scouting For Girls, Jack Penate, The Hoosiers -

where did all this upbeat British pop come from?

how come it's doing so well?

why do we all seem to hate it? (Judging by the Year In Pop polls)

how come the word "skiffle" keeps coming to mind?

Comments

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I think my moaning about it is mostly to do with thinking their songs are gash, to be honest. And that Scouting For Girls dude doesn't help himself with all that luvverly crap.

Some indie types are hung up on the lack of authenticity thing, which is a bit odd to me. It's like it's okay for any other kind of pop to be all nicely produced, carefully packaged and heavily marketed, but when it comes to something that has guitars and drums in, that's immediately terrible and wrong. I'm not sure if I get that.

And then, these bands get slated for having no ideas and a load of songs that do exactly the same thing - but half my favourite indie bands do that too.

Goodness knows where skiffle comes into it though.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think skiffle might be "just me".

I can totally see why a fan of Bloc Party or the Courteeners or Foals or Reverend And The Cockfarmers might hate them but I wonder why this community, which you'd think would be more open to "YAY UPBEAT POP", is so opposed. I honestly hadn't heard SFG before today and was expecting some completely obnoxious comedy records. I mean, they're not a million miles away from Scando poptasticness but with more pianos.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

(I don't know why I'm making such a fuss about it because I don't think I'm going to like any of it!)

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

My beef with SFG is purely the singer & the words he is saying. I like piano pop!

But back to skiffle: I guess this is down to the stripped down production style* that's in vogue at the moment - making the songs appeal to all the bedroom kids with acoustical guitars trying to play & sing along. That's absolutely fine (cf me & Elastica!) but hardly aspirational.

*Which also seems to involve not being able to play in time or tune.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

My beef with SFG is purely the singer & the words he is saying.

And the name! Don't forget the name!