Game 161, Athletics at Mariners
Smith v Rowland-Smith! The Smiths!
As you’ve noticed if you’ve been around here for a while, I take my music seriously. And as Jim Thomsen noted last time we did a year’s-end list, I tend to be in the John Richards set, so yeah, I subscribe to emusic even though I whine about emusic’s monthly corner-cutting, I have all the Sonic Youth albums, even the ones that aren’t much good, and I have the new Mogwai on while I listen to this (and it’s bad! really bad! I’m hoping it grows on me, because it’s been hugely disappointing the first time). I’m your general-issued self-conscious hipster.
But I don’t get the Smiths love. I thought Morrissey was annoying when I first heard them, and I don’t understand why they’re considered important, or influential, much less worth listening to. And usually I can look at bands I don’t like and still recognize this, but The Smiths… if your musical legacy is the Cranberries, you sucked. And there are other bands that liked them… but what did they do that was so influential? And how do you measure these things?
Oh, and the game’s at 1:10. It’s not televised.
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52 Responses to “Game 161, Athletics at Mariners”
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No, make that the i-pod people! 🙂
I can understand people not liking the Smiths but to say they haven’t influenced many bands seems a bit misinformed. You may not like these bands but i’d say they’ve all been influenced by the Smiths (mostly they say they have)
Radiohead, Suede (The London Suede in the US), Ride, Travis, Belle & Sebastian, Blur, The Stone Roses, Stars, The Dears, Doves, Decemberists, Coldplay, Oasis, The Sundays, Magnetic Fields.