SOME bands take themselves way too seriously. However it’s generally a good idea to not be so up yourselves you don’t realise people are laughing at you. Like these acts.
Smashing Pumpkins
Dressing like Uncle Fester is not the best way to convince people you have something important to say. Billy Corgan’s affected hush-SCREAM-hush vocals are often laugh-out-loud hilarious, although not as funny as his lyrics which supposedly channel the Word of God. The Pumpkins very quickly disappeared up their own grunge backside – and that’s the very worst kind of backside to disappear up.
Mansun
Most of the Britpop crowd realised they were lucky to get their 15 minutes and just had fun with it. Mansun, on the other hand, went into full-on prog-rock mode with only their second album. Awkwardly channelling The Marquis de Sade over a cacophony of heavily processed guitars, the only statement this band were making was: ‘We are pretentious dickheads.’
U2
If you want people to take your socio-political commentary seriously, best not to paint your face red and prance around pretending to be the Devil. Bono, The Edge and the other ones took holier-than-thou posturing to the next level, deeming their music worthy enough to be bestowed upon everyone in the world without their consent, courtesy of an iPhone download. The world responded with a collective middle finger, but there’s no evidence Bono thought: ‘Gosh, now you mention it, I really should stop being a twat.’
Fleet Foxes
Those comedy beards may not be hiding smiles, but Fleet Foxes remain unintentionally daft. Holing up in a remote log cabin in order to write about loneliness is the height of silliness. And if you want to preach about the importance of human connection, don’t throw hissy fits when the audience talks during gigs. These guys deserve to be on the receiving end of a pint full of piss. Or a bear.
Manic Street Preachers
They started out as boiler-suited, sloganeering wallies, a ludicrous mess of eyeliner and spray paint. Now in their late fifties, their look is more ‘darts night down The Bull’ but they remain as ridiculous as ever, singing about stuff they read in a book but don’t really understand. Like circus clowns who don’t know why everyone is laughing.
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
With their black turtlenecks and moody stares, this is a band who look like some GCSE drama students have been told to ‘act French’. Lyrical references to Norman Mailer and Simone de Beauvoir are pure sixth-form nonsense. Then there are their songs about women with Perfect Skin. If they weren’t funny, they’d be creepy.
