sweaty-new york-hipster-douche bags (with crap hair and Florsheim shoes) are not the stuff rock legends are made of.
more, please.

Dirt behind the daydream.

Contrary to public opinion, Rock legends are actually comprised of Pencil Shavings, a lock of Don Cheadle's hair, and more Gravy than you might have ever dreamed. Rock legends are not from Brooklyn, they live in the hearts, minds and sock drawers of fat children, or GLENN.

roland groove boxes and british accents are cool

Radio 4 were better back when they were ripping off the Clash. Since they started ripping off INXS with their last record they've dropped more then a few pegs with me.

you know, i am overly sympathetic with this band cuz of their garden variety roots. i have avoided buying the astralwerks record, but that _gotham_ thing, well... i dunno. it's something i can play for squares, you know?

squares like me.

pdxs1 wrote:Since they started ripping off INXS with their last record they've dropped more then a few pegs with me.

"Absolute Affirmation" was something of a guilty pleasure for me a short while.

Actually, it might have been more morbid curiosity than guilty pleasure. I mean, this song sounds exactly like an INXS song.

Exactly.

Who rips off INXS?

I saw Radio 4 the other night opening for Gang of Four. And I thought about a few things while they played:

1) Is it difficult opening for a band whose style you borrow somewhat obviously from, but also a band who existed in the specific era of music that you slavishy clone yrself? In other words, is it awkward playing every night before a band who shared stages and (I'm guessing) knew A Certain Ratio, Au Pairs, Joy Division, PiL etc?

2) Radio 4 has a bongo player. When I was fifteen I would have hated Radio 4 before they even took the stage based solely on the fact that they have a bongo player. In certain respects my fifteen yr old self was very smart.
2a) Extending songs so the bongo player can take a "solo" makes you no different then a zillion pointless 70s rock bands.

3) If you implore the audience to enjoy themselves or dance or "get into the show" or in this case pointedly explain to the audience the next song is called "Enthusiasm", someone should throw a pie at you.

4) Steve has recently made mention on the board about "genre" music (see the Kim Gordon thread) and it struck during Radio 4's set that "post-punk" is now just another genre music, like surf rock and that made me very sad.

the singer is from nyc and has a phony baloney british accent.
the bongoist looked like he should be serving miniature weinies at a frat house party.
whoever was responsible for selecting the keyboard presets should be bound and tossed into the east river.

"dance to the underground"
?
!

I like Radio 4, especially Gotham, but even the new Astralwerks collection. I expect so little and they meet my expectations every time.

I look forward to seeng them opening for Gang of Four in a week's time. They owe so much to Pil, GoF, and the like. I will get a perverse enjoyment out of seeing them on stage with a bongo player. Not as much as would be the case if they were opening for, say, Limp Bizkit, but still, I expect to be tapping my toes and snappnig my fingers.

Maybe if they all wore maids costumes, with frilly white aprons, they would be better.

Or at least more visually pleasing.