Well, I must stop myself there. I can’t say for sure if any of these folks are indeed of the hipster mentality. My guess is Anamanaguchi aren’t exactly, as they appear to have something of a normal sense of humor and hang out with genuine fun-loving guys Harry and the Potters (who are a very friendly duo of brothers from the area). But, look at this picture:
Am I right? Well, at least the dude on the right. But, as I said, far too much judging for me…
Anyway, the band will be performing at The Middle East next week, and The Boston Phoenix did a little piece on them with an interesting bit of information:
Anamanaguchi go back to 2003, when founding guitarist and programmer Peter Berkman was in the ninth grade in Westchester. In between recording Weezer covers on a four-track, he and his “songwriting bro” at the time, George, “would get some snacks, like some plain doughnuts, and play Mega Man, and we realized, ‘Oh shit, the music in this Bubble Man level is totally, like, the first emo song.’ We were listening to Sunny Day Real Estate all the time and we were like, ‘It’s the same thing, check it out!’ “
Listening in on their tunes on myspace certainly make the picture startlingly-clear; the power-pop metal rings true to Weezer, while some of the intricate guitar work is pretty reminiscent of Sunny Day Real Estate in all forms… and the inclusion of these sounds into “bitpop,” “chiptune,” or, as I like to call it (starting right… now) “nintechno” (not sure that really works for Anamanaguchi, but it’ll do for now) is pretty creative at least… Now I just need to get my hands on the song from the Bubble Man level of Mega Man to know what they’re talking about… Great stuff, but don’t get me started on their Wavves cover…
Switching from that, I stumbled upon a blog filed with post-post-modern non-sequitors that many a hipster tends to flock to in the guise of humor (not the blog, but the writing style). And here’s what a recent entry stated:
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inventor of emoi didn’t realize how ian mackaye annoys me until i saw him in person at the silver jews and he thought i was pointing at him.
hi, that’s my blog, the pony problem (ian mackaye post). it isn’t supposed to be humor, it’s just the worst blog on the internet. and not because i think it’s cool to have the worst blog on the internet, just because it *is*. that said, i guess i thought ian mackaye was in rites of spring, but he wasn’t. that’s why i shouldn’t talk about music in public or on the inter-web. anyway mr. mackaye did make an annoying face at me at the silver jews concert in DC in 2008, i don’t know why i chose that moment to rehash it. but for some reason it came bubbling up. that youtube clip was awesome. i am not a hipster. thanks!
Hey Rebecca, thanks for writing… it’s good to get your input, and thanks for letting me know you’re not a hipster! Actually, I was very sincere when I said you knew what you were talking about – though MacKaye wasn’t in Rites of Spring, he was in Embrace, which was one of the three big “emocore” bands back in the mid 80s that have informed what has now become emo… and then followed Egg Hunt, and then Fugazi, and everything branched off from there… But please, continue to talk about whatever you want – I hope I didn’t offend you with the linking and hipster-calling – I should be aware, especially considering the undertones of this blog… Anyway, thanks for dropping in and giving your two cents – I really appreciate it.