Lol. I discovered 311 in a skating video sometime around 1990 or 91.


^^^^^End of this video is conformist-ville for sure.




One of those corporate bands that released 2 indies before being signed to the Capricorn reboot which also brought us the bastions of "pop conformity" Cake and Widespread Panic.

Cool if they aren't your thing, but lol at making them sound like some contrived pop music.

CD?

"Date Rape" was amazing the first time I heard it. There's a few other Sublime songs I enjoy, but no. Just no.

Cake always seemed like the product of a record exec brainstorm session. We gotta get that cash from those suburban counterculture wannabes!

Nah, with a trumpet player?

Back to Sublime...

Easy there pumpkin. You'll be ok.

also, wtf, who cares who they are marketed to? That is the dumbest reason for not liking a band ever.

Seriously stupid arguments for not liking a band itt.

Love this bass line, riffed from Under Me Sleng Teng. Sublime did riff lots of bits from other artists.

yea this. what a awful band.

pixies legit great tho.

Just for you

I think pixies fans like the pixies for their underground appeal, which the fans identify with due to their lack of ability to function in greater society; whereas sublime fans like the music for operating out in the sunshine as it were, with less of a sense of isolation -- which from a more insulated worldview might be resented for appearing shallow or popular.

Pixies fans probably like them because they make good, interesting music.

I buy that people dislike bands for stupid reasons, but the inverse typically isn't going to be true.

Either way you should stop what you're doing and listen to the following free rap albums

Open Mike Eagle - Sir Rockabye http://openmikeeagle.bandcamp.com/album/sir-rockabye (weird indie hip-hop that isn't for everybody)

Killer Mike and El-P - Run the Jewels http://www.foolsgoldrecs.com/releases/run-the-jewels/ (probably the album of the year that should be for everybody)

Bradley Sublime was good, but nowhere near Pixies imo

Yeah, I'm just saying there's a lot of good, interesting music out there and people pick from amongst it for a variety of psychological reasons.

Kind of like saying metallica is better than bob marley imo. they are just two different art forms, so really it's hard to compare.

40oz to Freedom is an amazing album.

Top ten from the 90s ainec

Before this thread, I was mostly indifferent to Sublime.

Now I hate them.

I like this point. That said, there is a lot of contrary evidence to explain away. Bands like 311 and Sublime clearly have something going, at least for a certain demo. Pixies are pretty universal for people interested in "alternative" music. You don't get people like Bowie, U2, Radiohead, and Oasis slobbering on you without having done some interesting and good stuff.

Personally, I think, 1) the Pixies play very good and interesting rock music. They often experiment musically and have a high ratio of successes to failures with such experiments, 2) Lyrically they are extremely evocative but rarely literal, which is, in part, and invitation to appreciate their songs more fully, and 3) Frank Black is great as signing/screaming.

Their lyrical approach is very similar to 80s REM, and highly dependent on image, metaphor, and suggestion. Waiting for my man and Dead are great examples are pixies songwriting, where literal topics (waiting, mortality) are conveyed via oblique, almost surreal, lyrics.


Edit: listening to "something against you" linked above. Who starts a song with extreme detuned guitar strumming, moves into a straight thrash song (as a one off, of course, because they are not a thrash band), with highly distorted repeating vocals ("I've got something against you"). It's unique, it works, and they don't do it again. Most bands start to fall pretty hard into a groove, which deepens over time. The Pixies had a habit of jumping across grooves pretty regularly and doing it well.

Apples, oranges, and bananas are being compared ITT. Sublime and 311 share the Ska/Funk influence and both have a hip-hop lyrical style, but Sublime is more of a party band attached to a funny personal blog. 311 is more diverse musically and takes a more poetic hippy, sometimes serious, and less personal lyrical approach.


Pixies, in my opinion, have their own category by virtue of originality. I like simplicitus's take.

There was a Talk of the Nation (RIP) episode on NPR in like February where 311 was mentioned as a phish, Greatful Dead type band with some serious fans/tribe.

There is also a schism amongst 311 fans because their later work after the 90s became softer. "Amber is the color of your energy" is like hippy soul food imo.