paying someone a lot of money to write and record a song that will sound just as bad if not worse than any new bands iPhone demos, yeesh.
Idk why everyone is hating on the song shop he isn't forcing anyone to buy from it lol Also despite continuing to be polarizing I think Max still has a pretty good following for each record he's put out. Even if his best is behind him I definitely look forward to each release
I don't know if Max will/should ever stop putting out music in some capacity. Between SA, Two Tongues, Perma and The Painful Splits, it's clearly a passion of his and there seems to be an audience for all of it regardless of what I think
I'm biased because I greatly dislike him as a person and most of his musical output, but if there's an audience then W/e. Up to you Wild that he's supposedly written thousands of songs for this song shop thing
Give A Damn, 17 Coked Up and Speeding, Rum, So Numb, Goshua, Jiminy, Wire Mom, and Varicose Visage are my favorites from IDTII
Bought a song shop and in the info box wrote a short essayistic thing about how SA got me through some harsh times in high school and how much the early albums meant to me. He sent a song about eleven months later called "Diaper" that basically mocked it. It was a very strange, underwhelming experienxe. I know some people who cherish their Somg Shops, but I won't be a repeat buyer. Good on Max for keeping the lights on with it and I hope those who buy theirs enjoy it, but boy was I let down. Probably listened to the song three times in total after that and you guys surely picked up on how much of a Bemis Stan I am.
I remember one time Max tweeted someone asked for "A Walk Through Hell Part 2" and thats something I'm interested in.
Not a huge deal. He seems very appreciative of fans and I think he is, but I also think he takes advantage sometimes. Last concert I attended, he jumped into the audience and wouldn't hug or hardly even acknowledged the fans in the front row. If he wasn't into that, I get it, but why jump into the crowd, then? Shit like that really gets under my skin as a fan and as a struggling performer. Also, I'm still waiting for that Song Shop Call Fail Make-Up LP... It seems to be kinda bandwagony and vitriolic sometimes where it can be awkward expressing them. I honestly meant my earlier post about it as a joke, but there is some truth in it for me where if you go against the grain, you best be ready for some backlash, whether you can back it or not. I love the place and the people here seem nice; it's just a forum mentality thing, imo. I always thought that Perma demo, "Tripping" was supposed to be a second "Walk Through Hell" of sorts. I'd be interested, too.
I still spin iarb and self titled every once in a while, and I always try to forget that a lot of those lyrics aged like milk. I like the music despite it -- guess nostalgia is the culprit -- but it makes for an uncomfortable experience some songs I think this band was the first band I heard that tried to intellectualize misogyny
How eould you say they "intellectualize[d] misogyny?" I would say if anything, the band is examining and satirizing the mentality behind such misogyny, as a whole. Early demos especially fall prey to the same tropes they mock(ed), but I don't get that vibe at all and I'm curious how someone could.
Because sometimes the satirizing is handled clumsily; if at the end of the day yr satire points the finger at the same subject as what you're satirizing and all that's left for you to figure that out is a knowing wink or some over the top language...that leaves a lot to subtext. And the point of satire isn't to ridicule those who can't defend themselves (ie mostly unnamed ex lovers) because again that really is no different than what you're satirizing. What I'm saying is I shouldn't have to look under a microscope to understand that bc at that point you're just joining in. And all this aside it wouldn't necessarily be a character flaw as much as a symptom of immaturity -- people do grow after all -- but dude is grown and still can't really take criticism of his work without compartmentalizing it into a "max bemis vs the snooty indie critic" box, which is to say it's not real misogyny bc he doesn't mean it that way and clearly he's being picked on because of his uncool band and etc etc. Intellectualizing is more or less sarcastic, but that's how he tries to dress it up. And I'm sure he actually doesn't mean it that way, bc lbr, if he did then he wouldn't care about being called on it. But he isn't really growing from it as much as he could imo