Brand New Band • Page 403

Bad writing. Valid score

 

I dc if Ian is shedding light on artists that he should've been shedding light on 5-10 years ago. Him and his ilk neglected the scene at its height and now that emo is fashionable in underground circles again they're interested in it. And he can bring light to good bands all he wants that doesn't mean his writing isn't shit

 

This isn't true he's always been someone that supported emo. I've been following him on twitter for years

 

Then why were there virtually zero emo reviews on pitchfork from 08 (when he got hired) to 2013

 

Politics.

 

Also, for those interested, 33 other artists/bands were referenced in the review. That's how little credibility this scene (still) has from their perspective. Clearly, there's still a large segment that associate Brand New with JEW, DC, TBS, MCR, FOB, PATD, and all the other acronym bands that get little to no respect from the likes of Pitchfork.

 

Yes that CoS is so so good. Quite lenghty but it was so worth it. It was the perfect thing to read on Nov 21st right after I had jammed the album.

 

Once I saw the score of the album, I knew that was definitely not Cohen's verdict. If it was, it'd be in the 9's. Hell, an 8.5 is pretty high for an emo record and Pitchfork probably felt like they had to give it a high score begrudgingly. That's the highest score for an emo album since their review of the deluxe version of American Football, I'm pretty sure.

As for the writing, it's certainly not Cohen's best work. But writing a review for DaG on Pitchfork must be a hell of a challenge to begin with. I don't think he wrote that review for Brand New fans. He wrote it for the people who frequently read Pitchfork and don't really know much about Brand New.

 

was not expecting a review at all. really cool they did it. fair score from p4k even if it's really a 9

 

After sleeping on it, my posts about it last night were probably a little much. It is cool that pitchfork did this. I just wish Ian would've talked more about the content of the album rather than mentioning every band Brand New can sound like. But it's all good. Like I said, I like a lot of Ian's reviews.
I should make less passionate posts when it's past 3am.

 

thats fucking ridiculous. how embarrassing. i understand providing context with examples, but 33 is overkill. the cap on other artists/bands mentioned in a review should be like, five at the absolute most

 

99% of his reviews are overlong garbage. I get being happy at exposing bands you like to a larger audience but if I were an outsider to those scenes I'd be completely turned off by his reviews. I wish Craig Jenkins still wrote for Pitchfork

 

People have to realise Pitchfork does one of these "Sunday classic album" reviews every week (and these don't have to be anniversary records, they just write about any old record that hasn't already gotten a review). These are not supposed to be traditional reviews, and are often more longform think pieces. This doesn't excuse poor writing, but it makes the complaint about it not being a traditional-reading review, and not mentioning enough about the sound of the album, less of a crime.

And for those concerned about Pitchfork's readers being turned off by mentions of so many other bands... I don't get that. Some of their readers will feel a need to justify listening to such an album/genre. Being able to tell their friends the band is inspired by Modes Mouse, Jesus Lizard and whoever else will only encourage them to give it a shot. As will the barrage of emo records getting positive reviews over there.

 

Good post

 

i mean yeah like i said context is great! mentioning 33 other bands in the course of a review......that's not context thats overkill

 

That was p lazy and masturbatory imo. Like if that was a first draft it'd be promising but it needed editing for sure. It was empty analyzing and drawing connections but it never went anywhere near the music (save for the comparison to moon and Antarctica and the sonics of dag, thought that was good) and went frequently towards the band members and his own interpretations of their motives re: their stature, which tbh seems like he sees Jesse as the kid from Deja and YFW who never grew up to be anything than a posturing indie cred caring chameleon, which seems right off the bat like he's missing something. Dunno, other than being an uninspired think piece, the tone was weirdly dismissive of the band and their attempts at growth and in places downright mean spirited in their portrayal.
Also all the comparisons and the demos literally got like a sentence or two of mention that seems pretty crazy to me

 

much of ian cohen's compliments toward bands in the scene seem incredibly backhanded even if he doesnt intend them to be

 

Agreed. I think he means them to be that way though. Dude clearly loves and gives a shit about this music, which I appreciate, but also clearly cares about how cool it is or isn't to immortalize he gives a shit in writing, which I do not appreciate. There's an uptick in the backhanded quality when he's writing for pitchfork which just makes me feel like often his writing isn't particularly authentic feeling. I don't hate his stuff or anything, but I kind of wish if he was going to do this, he'd really do it and maybe even talk about the music in a way that isn't so easily summed up by a wikipedia page of the band history and "no more power chords here; they're trying to grow up and look outward, but there are missteps that say they aren't ready to move on just yet."

 

And the lack of authenticity doesn't make it bad inherently btw, just creates a disconnect for me personally in what is said and what is done that makes me view the writing a little more negatively.

 

Caught the stem of Jesse's flowers tonight!

 

I asked him just because I was curious, seems like Ian Cohen set out to do exactly what he wanted to with the Sunday Review, which I didn't know was a thing. Still feel the same about it though, don't think context has to be mutually exclusive to talking about the music as well

 

Curious to hear more about this convo

 

shrug was not dissimilar to what you said if that gives you an idea

 

So the show in Manchester on Saturday was really really fantastic. Both bands smashed it, can't wait for Wednesday now.

 

Biffy were far more enjoyable than I expected.