Don’t forget ‘A Cursive Memory’
A few years ago I played a show with “Self Against City,” a Drive-Thru band based out of LA playing Powerpop to teenage girls. While I was less than impressed with their live performance and album, I was reminded of them when I heard A Cursive Memory’s new single ‘Everything’ accompanied by a candid music video in which the band poses with celebrities outside LA nightclubs. The song is catchy as hell and the video is equally entertaining with Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Suge Night, and even Jerry Springer, along with a slew of other socialites ignoring the band as they steal impromptu shots with an oversized boombox (ghettoblaster). While I appreciate the originality that they employed drawing cues from the tabloid frenzy and national celebrity infatuation to promote themselves, there’s something slightly depressing about watching them chase stars to their sports cars to catch themselves in the same frame for a fraction of a second, an act that they’ve deemed “Bandarazzi”. Ya see, I come from a mentality where rock stars are the ones who everyone else should be chasing around ripping their clothes off throwing underwear and cash in their general direction. While A Cursive Memory is stalking heiresses and B-movie stars outside trendy LA clubs the REAL rockstars are inside getting their drink on. If ACM wants to be taken seriously they have to ditch the attitude that they’re in a sea of rich and famous and have to respect those high society types. Rocking is all about knowing, not thinking, that your band has produced the purest, most aesthetically pleasing sounds ever recorded and the world must bow to your greatness. See for youself….
I just don’t know. Maybe it’s a parody of our country’s obsession with drug addicts contributing nothing to society. Maybe they’re mocking our blind reverence for beauty and glamour. Maybe they just thought it would be cool to get celebrities in their video without having to pay or ask them permission. I’m perplexed. What I DO know is that regardless of their symbolically confusing video, the song playing behind it is great and the album follows suit. They’ve managed to refine the powerpop genre by keeping their songs simple and accessible. Stylistically, their album art is fresh and modern, obviously inspired by the LA hipster scene. While searching for other bloggers’ opinions of the ‘Everything’ video i stumbled across www.music-skins.com, a company that makes iPod and laptop skins with band’s artwork including the album art from ACM’s ‘Changes.’ The stuff looks pretty cool… they’ve got ’skins’ for every iPod (classic, video, nano, iTouch, mini) and big ones for laptop screens. The images are high-res printed on some kinda space-age vinyl that doesn’t leave any stickiness behind when removed and protects from damage. They’re sold at www.music-skins.com where they’ve also got a ton of other bands (Dashboard Confessional, Senses Fail, Alkaline Trio), rappers (Paul Wall, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones), artists (LRG, Dave White), and babes. Also, check out the ‘making of’ A Cursive Memory’s ‘Everything’ video in which Perez Hilton blatantly insults the band, telling them their music was no good. While I would disregard any criticism from a no talent hack such as Perez I’m happy he gave the band a little reality check.
Peace, Love, and Peacelove.
