Dear Joseph Larkin,

Get the fuck over yourself. Your "ascerbic" wit is not as crafty as you may think. Most of us are tired of the snide comments about hard working bands/promoters/whatever that you sling without any real valid reason other than "you are a dick." Sure, you can talk shit, but can you do something beautiful? You reek of the stench of failed writer.

You are what is wrong with the music scene--self important prigs that do nothing but gripe and complain. It appears that you don't actually contribute anything but half-assed teenage angst that you should have outgrown by now. I've found the folks here at the big metal "e" to be kind and helpful and interesting--personal qualities that your inane posts seem to lack.

I have never been in a fight, but I would personally love to give you a good throat punching should we ever meet.

Sincerely,

Faiz Razi

This thread reminds me of why I moved away from Chicago, where awful music and people with terrible taste reign supreme... What do all of the bands listed in this thread have in common? Every one of the bands' various members will be working in guitar stores and coffee shops for the rest of their miserable fuckin' lives, which is proof that God does exist and that He is in fact good.

At least here in New Orleans we only have one band with an accordian in it...

I think its a bit silly to post messages like this, and yet still come back to this board time and time again to make fun of people and criticize. If you hate musicians from Chicago that much, why are you posting here?

I dont understand why you always rip on Faiz too. This is the man that gave me free passes to the Pop Montreal Festival even after I missed his band playing that night. He also put me and two of my friends on the guestlist. A very nice man indeed.

I dont understand why anyone would hate someone so much on a message board, especially when you dont really know them in real life.

Please explain.

- Chet

Who is this Joseph Larkin fellow?

I would be there are more accordians in new orleans

he is Faiz's arch nemesis, who has managed to make an assface of himself in somewhere short of 50 posts (without once mentioning the slaying/melting of faces, even!) It seems he has sucessfully prevented us from ignoring him, which is really the only thing he deserves, in my opinion. Short of a personal affront, I will say nothing more on the issue, except that I support Faiz wholeheartedly because Faiz is a genuine, well-reasoned, witty and thoughtful person, the very type of person who tends to stimulate jealousy and stupidity in trolls and asshats.

So he's the dude that talked trash about Kerble's band in the This Band Could Be Your Life... post?

I just checked out his totally knobtacular site and man is it lame. No where near as well done as http://www.dangeradventure.com/
This dude needs a life. I mean we all probably do but, he really needs one.

kerble wrote:Dear Joseph Larkin,

I have never been in a fight, but I would personally love to give you a good throat punching should we ever meet.

Sincerely,

Faiz Razi

People that threaten to throat punch somebody over something they read on a public bulletin board are a bigger problem in society than even freelance rock critics like Larkin.

Where better to air an opinion about the Chicago music scene than here?

Ignore it or get mad at it, but to suggest that Larkin has to earn the right to criticize crap bands by also being a creator of music himself is bullshit. Especially when there already is a glut of music that's suspiciously crappy in this city, even at a glance. Should we all take our Soma and praise it all?

Let's ask Steve Albini what he thinks about taking shit about a local music scene. Oh, wait, I read every issue of Forced Exposure, I already know.

People that threaten to throat punch somebody over something they read on a public bulletin board are a bigger problem in society than even freelance rock critics like Larkin.

Where better to air an opinion about the Chicago music scene than here?

Ignore it or get mad at it, but to suggest that Larkin has to earn the right to criticize crap bands by also being a creator of music himself is bullshit. Especially when there already is a glut of music that's suspiciously crappy in this city, even at a glance. Should we all take our Soma and praise it all?

Let's ask Steve Albini what he thinks about taking shit about a local music scene. Oh, wait, I read every issue of Forced Exposure, I already know.

You have missed the point completely. Faiz isnt saying that he has to "earn the right" to criticize his band. I dont think Faiz has a problem with people criticizing his band, but when youre a dumbass and you relentlessly attack people on a message board over and over poking fun at every comment that they make, well, enough is enough.

I dont like every band that has members that post on here, and I think its ok if I was to voice my opinion about it on one of the topics. To follow up each of that band members posts with a smart ass comment though, is a waste of everyones time.

In conclusion, theres a big difference between constructive criticism and criticizing to be a jerkoff.

- Chet

I have a confession to make--I don't really like Shellac in general. That's not why I'm here. What I do like is the ethos of the band and how it carries itself and to me that's more important (for me). It's a common decency that I find appealling as well as the desire and ability to dicuss things rationally and humorously.

I'm not here because I'm a fanboy, I'm here because people on this side of the interweb are really impressive on a personal level. I enjoy the overall intelligence of the average poster here. I don't post anywhere else because I value the environment that has been created.

If you're going to call my "throat-punching" comment out and then say "ask steve," maybe you should reread the vitriol in those old copies of Forced Exposure and realize what a contradiction that is. Do you recall the (paraphrased) "If you make them one tenth as wimpy as you are, I will rip off your nuts and staple them into your mouth"? Same thing.

Granted, my post was lacking in the tact I'd like to think I have, usually. Really I don't care what people think of my projects, that's not the point. I'm defending bands I've never heard because it's not easy to bring the rock. People make a lot of personal sacrifices for their creative outlets and that is something I respect even if I don't enjoy the music.

Even some of the bands that were slagged when dah was posting about his election night shows are bands that have people that I personally dislike. Once again that's not the point. dah put in a lot of work to set up those shows and that's fucking important. That's hard work, a lot of phone calls and a lot of planning while still dealing with a bunch of flaky musicians.

It's about community, it really is. Rock criticism is one thing, but that's not what was being done. It was far less eloquent and far more mean-spirited.

Oh yes, clocker bob, I've read the site end to end as it is better to know the shit that you are talking about before you start talking shit and the air or misogyny and misanthopy goes against everything I value.

Faiz