There are a few warning signs of what can make or break a band and tend to set off alarms. Any combination of the following three signs found in any band should be considered worrisome:
- Third-rate, watered down electronic pop-punk/scrunk with little thought put into the music and lyrics.
- More band tees and general merch than notable songs.
- Blatant racism and bigotry.
Congrats to Teen Hearts for nailing all three categories!
On Jan. 6, Look At This Fucking Hipster posted a “nifty” little YouTube video by the band, using the video for “Hands In The Air” as a curious exemplar of hipster fashion and a terrible taste in music.
Singer Kelly Orr sent LATFH guru Joe Mande a “kind” email in response. I won’t spread Orr’s racist, homophobic email around, but he pretty much dug a fairly deep grave for his band to try and climb out of.
For some, this may present an odd musical and moral query: Does having a terrible taste in music relate to racism?
For my money, I’d say no. But, Orr’s email brings up an interesting query: How does someone so connected to technology and the power of the Internet (the Teen Hearts myspace page screams “HUGE MERCH SALE!!†– the sign that someone knows what they’re doing) not realize that sending blatantly racist messages to a complete stranger who operates a fairly popular website will come back to bite him in the ass?
You can read Orr’s crass correspondence with Mande here. Mande also published Orr’s email address, so feel free to send him whatever messages you feel like passing along.
I’ll follow Mande’s lead and post a YouTube video of a Teen Hearts song that’s unaffiliated with the band for those who are curious. We wouldn’t want to inflate Orr’s ego by making him think hits equals instant popularity, now would we?
[youtubevid id=”LZZP556-F8I”]
