Viva Brother v NME

Vaguely interesting (hell, it’s a slow news day) mini storm in a teacup over Viva Brother’s recent decision to split and NME’s perceived role in the whole thing...yes, the old build ‘em up, knock ‘em down thing. Like I’ve said plenty of times before I stopped buying NME a while ago but it was, back in the day, a fine publication with plenty of decent writers and a real commitment to music that seems to have gradually been eroded in the never ending quest for the shiny and new. I was never a fan of Brother or Viva Brother (they were forced to change the name by another band...also called Brother) but you’ve got to feel for any bunch of musicians (no matter how full of it they might have been) who go from front cover darlings to back page jokes in a matter of months.

The speed of the music biz these days is (for someone who grew up pre-internet, CD, electricity...) head spinning. It’s literally impossible to keep up with new bands, new releases, new scenes and, in a world in which a band could (theoretically at least) form, record, release an album AND split up in a matter of hours (hmmm...that would be an interesting experiment) you sort of can’t blame the NME for desperately hopping from one thing to the next. The level of bitchy, dismissive reviews in the damn thing can be pretty depressing though. Those who can do, those who can’t review. Remember that...

All this really just gives me a great excuse to post Thee Headcoats (We Hate The Fuckin') NME though. Ha! Enjoy.