h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Offspring cute?????????????? What are you on about? Far from cute they rock!

Whats ur favourite album and have you ever seen them? I saw them recentley in Leeds for a secret gig. They were sooooo good. 300 of us packed into a tiny room and the atmos was buzzing. Funnnly enough, I was speaking to vogonpoet about them aswell!

Tonto

Yup, I saw them once at rock city, once at birmingham nec (I think. It was somewhere up north anyway, might have been manchester), and once at Reading festival 1999.... And yes they did rock, and i think they're lovely, and i fancy dexter (thats what i meant by cute) but they STILL aren't punk.
I didn't say i didn't like the bands i listed, just that they call themselves punk when they aren't. Then again, 'pop rock' doesn't sound very manly does it?
Actually the offspring are a slightly different case, because their earlier album (the one before SMASH) was actually quite punky and they did their stint of playing in sh*tty pubs etc , but they've gone very very fluffy now and none of the somgs on americana (for instance) could be considered punk
(I am quite well listened, you'll find i have been to see every band i liked that i possibly could and i'm not one of these people who dismisses a band after listening to once track.) Just, i've had a lot of exposure to punk and been going to the HITS weekenders and some of the underground gigs by the likes of MENACE and THE WERENT and theres a completely different dynamic to them, its not like a rock gig at all. Punks meant to be about something a bit different to rock..... "common people" by pulp was more punk than anything blink 182 did. Its not how you set your guitars or what color your hair is, punk is ALWAYS political and angry. Otherwise it isnt punk. Theres very very few punk love songs and those are usually very twisted! And a lot of the best punk bands now don't even bother to do their hair. It doesn't matter. Mohawks are very sexy but its not what you go to the gig for.

thats what my rant on may page was about. I thought i might cut down on the amount of ranting mails i sent people if i just referred them to my page

I didn't realise you would come to *me* and actually *invite* a rant


Whereabouts are you? I would recommend you tried to make it along to one of the Holidays in the Sun/Smoke festivals.... theres one in london soon but theres also one in san francisco and one in austend during the year. They're cheap and there are TONS of bands. Last one I went to Vice Squad and the Buisness, the Dickies, Ten Pole Tudor, Sick Boy federation, UK subs, Anti flag, Peter and the testtube babies, splodgenessabounds,sick on the bus, 999, the werent, snapper,Antinowhere league (they did that 'so what?' song everyone covers....god, and loads of others (I only listed the ones i particularly liked).. all for £30! They're held in smokey little pubs and the bands come out afterwards to get drunk with you. They recognise most of their fans and buy you drinks. Theres no pretension about it. Can you imagine blink 182 coming off stage, walking to the bar, lighting a cigarette, and chatting to you about politics? nah...

You do seem to know your punk. Lots of names there that I don't recognise.

I'd be the 1st to admit that The Offspring have become somewhat commercialized. Starting with Ixnay and definitely with Americana and Conspiracy. The other three though - Smash, Ignition and the self titled one were pretty punky. Granted not too extreem but nothing like their poppy stuff. When I saw them a couple of months ago it was only a small venue in Leeds which made it preety cool. Half of the fans liked the 1st three albums whilst the other half wanted to hear the last three.

I'm currently in Sheffield at Uni. No good bands seem to be coming here at the moment though. Are you from somewhere in the south then?

I definitely prefer smaller venues to larger ones. They are a lot more personal. Sometimes go to Battle of the bands type pubs aswell. They sometimes have some good bands and the smokey atmosphere always seems to add something.

What other types of music are you into?

I'm from just north of London.. i tend to drop in to london at weekends and try to see a band if I can, although the only bands ive seen recently were UltraViolence and Scarlett Messiah (industrial techno)....... I'm into lots of things.. used to be very into my heavy metal when i was younger, and then more into industrial stuff like ministry, and as i've got older i've realised i like loads of different things as long as they are stompy and cross! The punk stuff is from an ex I think, he used to play so much stuff i ended up liking most of it even though i used to fight to get front 242 on the stereo before he could inflict me with his crass (that band still makes my head hurt!)..... but i then got pretty into it myself, i love the atmosphere at the gigs.. when i go to clubs i usually go to the cyber-industrial ones though like slimelight or the electric ballroom in london, or pieces in nottingham (I think thats shut now though)

I think my little brother won tickets to the leeds gig and then couldn't go.. it was quite recent wasn't it? I was cross with him for not going!

What sort of bands do you like then (apart from the Offspring?)

Well I've just bought the Strokes, Crazy Town and OPM albums. I think they are quite good especially the Strokes. Since being at Uni, my tastes have changed dramatically. Probably due to the ability to download mp3's easily at uni.

My regular club night is at the Tuesday Club at Sheffield Uni which plays mostly Drum & Bass and Hip Hop. Going there tomorrow infact to see Roots Manuva. That sort of night I would never have gone to a couple of years ago as I used to go to commercial pop nights at my local cheese club.

Overall, I like some metal, punk, indie, dance, Hiphop - almost anything really that is tuneful.

I think the offspring gig was in June or round about then. I won tickets too from the Offspring web site although I had been trying for days to win them on radio1! Your brother should have gone as it was just brill.

Well you've got me there, i hadn't heard of the Strokes, and I thought a half pipe was some kind of stoner paraphenalia until recently... ...

I feel reaLLY old sometimes. Cos i always end up having a lot older friends than me I get into their music and about the newest band i like is Korn (actually i did like the Guano Apes and EverClear (I think? I can't even remember the name properly now. They did Heroin Girl and some other song that was on MTV2 a lot a couple of months ago.. and Queen Adrena but only because i'm nostalgic about her old band Daisy Chainsaw)...... I dunno what you lot are talking about anymore! Did you like Rage Against the MAchine? (not the lastest tho, that was lame.)..I go to clubs and end up sitting with the 30 somethings talking about Wire and Coil and b*tching about how numetal isnt a patch on ACDC... ugh... and complaining about people wearing baggy trousers and keychains

..I'll have to get some of you bright young things to educate me

I ANDROKTONE

The strokes are a newish band. They've had 1 chart position - not too high I don't think.

Actually I did like Rage. I thought they were very different to anything I was listening to at the time. By the latest do you mean the cover version album? Killing in the Name of and Know your Enemy were what got me into playing the guitar (badly!) and Ashes in the fall is good also. Hm, not listened to them for ages, I wonder where the albums are.

Oh, Catch 22 should be on my list of bands. Another band that I have neglected recently. I think they appeal to me because I used to play the cornet and would have loved to have played in a band like that instead of playing hymns and carols and marches . I've also seen some Hiphop artists recently with full brass, guitar and string accompanyments which were very interresting.

You've got me thinking now. I'm going off to find my Catch 22 and RATM albums.

Tonto

I want to be in a band again

Problem is, I only play guitar and bass, and very badly


Have fun with yr RATM (headbanging smiley?)

Well, my head is banging, but not for the right reasons -

Enjoyed listening to Rage again. Maybe this time I won't neglect them.

I've always thought about starting playing the bass. I think that its the most important part of some songs (although not always as exciting)

Anyway, playing an instrument badly doesn't mean that you can't be in a band!!! Just look at the charts!

Tonto

I used to play an instrument badly in a bad band at uni. It was lots of fun. I guess what i need is to find a lot of incredibly bad musicians to form a band with.




I think Punk would be the medium that instantly springs to mind

Hope your head feels better soon


I ANDROKTONE

In your new "bad" band, would you write new songs or do covers?

I don't think my head will be bad for long. The mist is beginning to clear. Thanks for the though.

Tonto

A little of both, i think

Although, as we wouldn't be very good, nobody would recognise the covers and they would all think we made them up!

I ANDROKTONE
Distributer of es to the needy and poorly of head.

I'm feeling much better now thanks. Your 's and the mufflewhumps from Paper Lady have helped loads. The head ache seems to have progressed into a 1 day flu but that is going now

At least if they can't tell what the covers are, they will think that you make a lot of your own songs.

Don't you think that a smiley would be great?

Tonto

Yes, a with <<>> round it to symbolise *rock* =)


my ex had a plan of playing loads of obscure scandanavian death metal and 1980s anarcho punk and making out it was ours on the grounds nobody except us is into that sort of stuff anyway


We'll have to make do with the headbanging smiley for now i guess.
My request for a jackboot smiley was declined

Actually, I think I wil request a .

That would be so good!

I think the scandanavian death metal idea is agood one. I wouldn;t know anyway!

Who declined the jackboot smiley?

Tonto

can't remember. Its on the conversations list under the smiley. I had previously asked for a smiley but on being informed that that was a possible breach of copyright i amended it to a smiley and was informed that that smacked of Nazism. O don't know whether a smiley or a smiley would go down better.
I just thought it would be good for in conversations =)


my teeth are all swollen and hurty
and i'm on too many antibiotics and can't even drink my misery away

Aw whats up with your teeth? Have you been to the dentist then?

At the moment I want a ? smiley for questions only which made it to 10k posts recently.

Don't you think <?> would be useful.

Hope your mouth fells better soon.

Tonto

s
thanks!

I was fine until I went to the dentist, she drilled lots of my teeth but didn't have time to fill them properly so stuck some plaster of paris stuff in for 2 weeks until my next appoointment.. it all fell out after 3 days.. then the gums got infected where she had drilled holes in them.. now my face is swollen up like a gerbil!


I've been away from questions only a few days. Looks like you're doing well though!

We beat the Thingites (the now 2nd biggest thread ) to 10k which was our objective. Only trouble is that the backlog was almost impossible to keep up with.

It didn't sound like the dentist did that good a job. Can they not fit you in sooner<?> Maybe this will help.

Tonto

glug glug
much better now thankyou!


(although still have to be careful around )


Benefits now include being thinner than i have been for years owing to effectuallt having my jaw wired who says pain has no plus points???