The Pains Of Being... Unoriginal

I went into Kaatcha with the agenda of posting only positive thoughts about music... Oh Silly Cynical Me. The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart. This must be talked about. Unfortunately in a not so good way. And my negativity might be the first, because apparently people are doing round-offs and other gymnastic floor trickery to celebrate their excitement of this second coming of late 80's, mid 90's fuzz pop/reverb soaked rock.

I was luke warm about their one single "Come Saturday", which was the first song I heard by POBPAH. I didn't hate it, nor did I love it. It was, to me, just regurgitated amplifier noise that didn't raise the bar from the shoegazin' acts from the past, i.e. My Bloody Valentine, etc. (Little did I know how much their influences would seep through their entire album... with no shame in hiding it at all.)

So a few weeks ago the full album fell in my lap, so of course I wanted to listen to it ALL. There's nothing like the initial judgement you place on a band with the first listen... those first five notes to thirty seconds will make or break your overall opinion. - You can deny it as much as you want, but after that you'll either be looking at the glass (album) half full (holy sh*t!), or half empty (... eh, it's okay.) So I guess in my case, this debut S/T was going up agaist my less than half empty ears.

And it's not because this band does not have talent, they do. And it's not because they took lessons from decade(s) past, every band does. That's the way it works... But what POBPAH did was different. I don't feel they made an effort to make it their own. They didn't try to make an impact further than they had to. It was what is was, and what you've already heard. (But almost too exactly - some songs almost note for note.)

Take a listen to these two songs and see if you automatically think of two other (much better) songs... (And I'd be interested to hear if there are any other comparisons you spotted. I'm sure there are other hidden gems.)

"Teenager In Love" : This is David Bowie's "Modern Love." Ballsy, No!? In spurts, the melody is almost exactly the same. And timed almost perfectly so.

"Gentle Sons" : Now I'm not going to pretend that I'm a largest fan of The Jesus & Mary Chain, to be frank I know little of their collection. So it's odd that of the three songs I am familiar with, POBPAH decided to rip off one of them, and their most popular, "Just Like Honey." These two songs start off jaw dropingly similar. Though the songs are in different keys, there is no mistake where they got that drum kick from... No mistake. I almost found it appalling. The opening of "Just Like Honey" is iconic for the dream pop period. It's common knowledge that it should be left alone - or so one would think.

So yeah, I guess this is where my grudge is coming from. Know your place. Especially if you're a newcomer. Pay homage, but respectfully so. Because influences are good. Influences are great! But let's take a lesson from Vanilla Ice, and keep your idols as friends - not as your latest lawsuit.

Other than that I guess the album is not all that bad...