Uh-oh. It looks like we have ourselves another open letter to Pitchfork! After Ian Cohen’s 1.6 defenestration of The Airborne Toxic Event’s new self-titled disc, the band decided to craft a response to Cohen (and Pitchfork by extension) and throw it out there to the Internet, which, of course, lapped it up.
In my just-concluded days as a publicist, I generally discouraged clients–and co-workers–from striking back at publications that just gave them scathing reviews, because once the complaint gets out there you end up looking silly. (Exhibit A: Chris Ott vs. the Decemberists. Exhibit B: Philebrity vs. Solid PR.) You are not going to win.
Of course, the big baddie of them all is Pitchfork, notorious dispensers of smackdowns on their 100-point ordinal scale. Listen, there were times that I wanted to wring their necks. One band’s entire PR campaign collapsed after a particularly mean 4.4 that got a number of the lyrics wrong and accused the singer of affecting a Southern accent (it is very real). After it happened everybody I promoted to said, “I heard that record sucked.” Okay, see…so now I’m doing it. See what you made me do, TATE?
My point, though, stands: You don’t want to get in a pissing contest with someone whose job it is to write opinions about your work. You are never going to win. You come off looking like a whiner or, even worse, a publicity hound–Pitchfork gets a lot of pageviews, and people are talking about The Airborne Toxic Event who probably weren’t before. I bet their MySpace page, which is linked from the review, blew up. And I bet a lot of people heard the music and agreed and many more heard it and liked it. It’s pretty palatable stuff, which is kind of Cohen’s point, whether you agree or disagree (I have not yet formed an opinion, and I do know some of the people involved here).
Reviews with a score as low as 1.6 generate a lot of discussion. As a PR flack, I always thought that 6.0s and the like, while generally positive, never generated the buzz for me that the 2.0s or the 8.9s did, because it’s better to be totally sucky or totally rad than totally alright. When that monkey peed in his mouth, I went and listened to the Jet album. When Travistan got a 0.0, you better believe I listened to that ouch-to-the-pouch again.
To be fair, the Airborne Toxic Event guys are pretty nice in their open letter. In fact, they come off as downright genial, which kind of makes them sound even worse in a way:
Thanks for your review of our record. It’s clear that you are a good writer and it’s clear that you took a lot of time giving us a thorough slagging on the site. We are fans of Pitchfork. And it’s fun to slag off bands. It’s like a sport — kind of part of the deal when you decide to be in a rock band. (That review of Jet where the monkey pees in his own mouth was about the funniest piece of band-slagging we’ve ever seen.)
Aw, that’s nice. I do think it is a pretty well-written review. Full disclosure: Ian Cohen once trashed one of my bands, and it was actually okay because he called us out on some things other reviewers totally missed. In a way, I appreciated the depth of his listening. And I, too, liked the monkey. But show me a person who doesn’t like monkeys and I show you a person with no soul.
We decided a long time ago not to take reviews too seriously. For one, they tend to involve a whole lot of projection, generally saying more about the writer than the band. Sort of a musical Rorschach test. And for another, reading them makes you too damned self-conscious, like the world is looking over your shoulder when the truth is you’re not a genius or a moron. You’re just a person in a band.
Wait, so you crafted this long letter because you don’t take reviews seriously? I do think there is a bit of projection involved with the writer and the reviews and all that, but aren’t we supposed to be listening to how the critic felt about the piece of art? In fact, shouldn’t it be about the writer in a way? (I’m not talking Harry Knowles talking about getting popcorn and stuff.)
Plus, the variation of opinions on our record has bordered on absurd. 80 percent of what’s been said has been positive, a few reviews have remained on the fence and a few (such as yours) have been aggressively harsh. We tend not to put a lot of stock in this stuff, but the sheer disagreement of opinion makes for fascinating (if not a bit narcissistic) reading.
This is not a bad thing, I’d say, and not absurd at all. It’s nice to know that your art generates a diverse emotional response. You should be happy that people feel strongly about it one way or the other. As a publicist, bad reviews, particularly for debut albums, are a good sign that people care enough to listen! Silence is worse than no publicity.
And anyway we have to admit that we found ourselves oddly flattered by your review. I mean, 1.6? That is not faint praise. That is not a humdrum slagging. That is serious fist-pounding, shoe-stomping anger. Many publications said this was among the best records of the year. You seem to think it’s among the worst. That is so much better than faint praise.
I think we’re both on the same page here. I wouldn’t call Ian’s review fist-pounding or shoe-stomping, though–more like a resigned sigh.
You compare us to a lot of really great bands (Arcade Fire, the National, Bright Eyes, Bruce Springsteen) and even if your intention was to cut us down, you end up describing us as: “lyrically moody, musically sumptuous and dramatic.” One is left only to conclude that you must think those things are bad.
Uh, three out of four of those are great bands to me. And, also,” lyrically moody, musically sumptuous and dramatic” is a heck of a pull-quote. Stick that on the front of the jewel case! You win!
We love indie rock and we know full well that Pitchfork doesn’t so much critique bands as critique a band’s ability to match a certain indie rock aesthetic. We don’t match it. It’s true that the events described in these songs really happened. It’s true we wrote about them in ways that make us look bad. (Sometimes in life you are the hero, and sometimes, you are the cuckold. Sometimes you’re screaming about your worst fears, your most vicious jealousies and failures. Such is life.) It’s also true that the record isn’t ironic or quirky or fey or disinterested or buried beneath mountains of guitar noodling.
This is where they start to go off the rails. Now they’re getting defensive. They “don’t match” an aesthetic. They make themselves purposefully “look bad.” They make dismissive comments that they aren’t “ironic or quirky or fey or disinterested or buried beneath mountains of guitar noodling” as if that’s the only type of thing that Pitchfork covers. They use the word “cuckold,” which is problematic.
As writers, we admire your tenacity and commitment to your tone (even though you do go too far with your assumptions about us). You’re wrong about our intentions, you’re wrong about how this band came together, you don’t seem to get the storytelling or the catharsis or the humor in the songs, and you clearly have some misconceptions about who we are as a band and who we are as people.
Artistic intent is the hardest thing to get right, for sure. Maybe Cohen got it wrong, but “you don’t get what we’re really about” is an easy place to hide behind, though hardly a tough position to take. Pretty much every artist could make this argument about any negative review and who could counter them. It’s like the position in Aristotilian logic where you say “sometimes this is not the case.” Yeah, it’s hard to disprove, but it’s not exactly sturdy either. It’s squirmy.
But it also seems to have very little to do with us. Much of your piece reads less like a record review and more like a diatribe against a set of ill-considered and borderline offensive preconceptions about Los Angeles. Los Angeles has an extremely vibrant blogging community, Silver Lake is a very close-knit rock scene. We are just one band among many. (And by the way, L.A. does have a flagship indie rock band: they’re called Silversun Pickups). We cut our teeth at Spaceland and the Echo and have nothing to do with whatever wayward ideas you have about the Sunset Strip. That’s just bad journalism.
This is a legitimate complaint, but the practice is hardly “bad journalism.” Art can be analyzed on multiple levels: the internal, the external, the symptomatic, and more. Placing TATE in context of a larger scene might seem lazy, but it’s just a different way of viewing the band’s recorded output. Maybe it takes up too much of the review, but Cohen clearly sees his perceived complaints about the record as symptomatic of a greater problem with Los Angeles. Not saying he’s right here, just saying it’s a legit way of critiquing.
But that is the nature of this sort of thing. It’s always based on incomplete information. Pitchfork has slagged many, many bands we admire (Dr. Dog, the Flaming Lips, Silversun Pickups, Cold War Kids, Black Kids, Bright Eyes [ironic, no?] just to name a few), so now we’re among them. Great.
This is a classic defense that I think goes nowhere quick, except down a slippery slope. You are also in the company of the aforementioned Jet and that backwards Avey Tare thing and Travis Morrison and more. And again with the positive mentions of Silversun Pickups? Eesh. That’s not something I’d admit.
This band was borne of some very very dark days and the truth is that there is something exciting about just being part of this kind of thing. There’s this long history of dialogue between bands and writers so it’s a bit of a thrill that you have such a strong opinion about us.
I like this graph, but is there a long good history of dialogue between bands and writers? Like I said before, you don’t want to get into a pissing contest with the person writing about you. Don’t know about the dark days. Hope those are past.
We hear you live in Los Angeles. We’d love for you to come to a show sometime and see what we’re doing with these lyrically moody and dramatic songs. You seem like a true believer when it comes to music and writing so we honestly think we can’t be too far apart. In any case, it would make for a good story.
You confirm that Ian Cohen lives in LA and invite him out, which is sweet, but undermines your case against his getting the LA scene wrong in a way. Just sayin’.
all our best–
Mikel, Steven, Anna, Daren, Noah
the Airborne Toxic Event
Listen, I think at this point, very few people have the kind of over-the-top blinding hatred of Pitchfork that reared its head a few years ago. The festival is well-done, Pitchfork.TV looks great, and (Black Kids pugs aside) you don’t see too much in the way of gotcha! from the site’s reviews these days. Most people reading this review would think that Ian Cohen really believes it’s a 1.6 album, though he probably goes too far equating it with L.A.’s inability to produce a big band.
Honestly, everything about this, from the review to the letter, is so well-mannered as to be milquetoast. I feel like the only way The Airborne Toxic Event could have dodged either the “whiner” or “publicity-hungry” labels was to lash out. Go for belligerence! If you go in, go all in.
An open letter to Pitchfork Media from the Airborne Toxic Event [The Airborne Toxic Event's Web site]
Review: The Airborne Toxic Event [Pitchfork]
Not that I love Pitchfork or anything (they are what they are), but the Airborne Toxic Event album IS pretty weak.
One thing that’s interesting about those one and two-star reviews is that they actually get people to listen to records. I mean, I probably never would’ve heard them if not for the shitty notice. And I was COMPLETELY prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.
But no, it sucked.
Agreed this is kind of whiny by the band that no one knows yet, but PF does carry a bit too much clout. I mean, they single-handedly derailed Travis Morrison’s career to be provocative.
How did Brooklyn Vegan respond with only one piece of visual media?
@goldsounds: It’s alright. The only standout song was “Sometime Around Midnight” (it reminds me of a Psychedelic Furs single for some reason or another), but the rest of it is meh. I’d go as far as to say that I don’t regret buying it, but that’s pretty much it.
But Pitchfork has been giving almost every album a rating under 5.0, now. I dunno why.
Pitchfork.tv is a stupid idea, I hope that it’s been a big failure for them.
@DocStrange: Hey, it’s definitely not a great album by any stretch. But I think it’s a little bit better than the Black Kids.
@DocStrange: “Pitchfork has been giving almost every album a rating under 5.0, now. I dunno why.
Because there haven’t been a whole lot of 5.0+ albums this year? I haven’t even heard this ATE record and haven’t read the review, but at this point in 2008 I already bear a grudge against almost every new band I come across thanks to the constant stream of mediocrity which has bombarded my ears since January. I suspect Ian Cohen’s in much the same place. Sometimes, unfortunately, one band ends up carrying the cross for all the others in a review. It’s not fair, of course. But it happens.
I actually liked the thoughtfulness of ATE’s open letter and their whole attitude about press (and using it, in turn, to their advantage).
@tim_loves_cats: How is it a stupid idea? I think it looks pretty great, and I was a big skeptic.
Ian Cohen pans are pretty much the only reviews I read on Pitchfork these days, and I say that as someone who’s not generally a fan of ‘takedown’ reviews or exaggeratedly low stunt ratings.
for their convenience, i’ve red-drafted TATE’s open letter to pitchfork. Ahem…
“Hey, asshole,
The Airborne Toxic Event was a group that in it’s five short years together brought more joy to people than your tiny little mind can fathom. We had literally thousands of fans. I know this because 2000 of them showed up for our farewell concert in 1983.
Of course the artwork looks professionally done, schmuck, it was! Joe Ciccone, one of our original members was an art director for Dancer-Fitzgerald ad agency. The “Airborne Toxic Event” logo and every square inch of the album cover was conceived and designed by Joe. Professionally. And the album was recorded “professionally” too. In a real live recording studio. With tape and everything.
I know it must seem strange to you that people can actually do something good for people. We never charged for our concerts ; we passed the “hat” which paid for our equiptment. And when we sold the album at our concerts if people didn’t have the lousey 5 bucks we gave it to them. Wow! Someone doing something nice for someone? A concept I’m sure you find unbelievable. What have you done with your miserable life, dickhead, except trying to bring people down.
The thing that really pisses me off is thet the familly of our drummer, who tragically passed 15 years ago, might actually see your river of shit and get upset. You have no soul.
Wanna see how real we are? Package and sell “The Airborne Toxic Event”. Go ahead. As the singer and songwriter I have the copyright. I never made a dime off the song but man, I’ll have your balls in a box before you can say “save me Jesus”.
I know no one will ever see this note because people like you never have the balls to admit they were wrong.
I, however, do feel much better!
Eat shit and live, prick.”
i think that reads much better.
And again with the positive mentions of Silversun Pickups? Eesh. That’s not something I’d admit.
What’s with the slagging of the the Silversun Pickups? I love that album. I hope they write you a letter. Ok, I was just kidding about that last part, but seriously, Carnavas is a great album.
@westartedthis: YAY
This kind of thing is more effective when you use Vincent Gallo tactics, and leave semi-threatening voicemails on the reviewer’s line and/or publicly wish the reviewer would contract cancer.
I live in LA and this is the first I’ve really heard of TATE. I thought it was pretty well established that No Age/The Smell were the flagship as far as stuff that mattered out here. Maybe that’s because I’ve been going to shows there for four years, but everything else (Even the good stuff) seemed kind of hacky, inauthentic, and old-model by comparison. The fork’s review kind of confirms this (a few instance of hackery aside, Ian Cohen is a pretty smart, insightful dude). However, having now seen this rebuttal, I kind of want to know what this band actually sounds like.
@How do I say this … THROWDINI!: Seconded, I don’t think they’re a revelatory band but they’ve certainly done some great songs.
I mean, they single-handedly derailed Travis Morrison’s career to be provocative.
You ought to see the shit they have planned with the Illuminati and the Process Church of the Final Judgment.
i got this email yesterday, and after reading the whole diatribe i was willing to give this record a chance. they sounded like they really, really feel like they got fucked over and i was willing to half heartedly give them benefit of the doubt. that was yesterday. i listened to this thing today and in pfork’s defense the record is pure shit. on the other hand, i think this record will go over huge with folks with zero knowledge of musical history and kids on myspace.
Did I mention the grassy knoll and the Masons? Them too. Pitchfork wields so much real-world power and influence it’s POSITIVELY SCARIFYIN’.
@Michaelangelo Matos: I heard they were in cahoots with Boss Tweed at Tammany Hall!
I understand they were also behind the ’68 Democratic Convention riots, too. Not bad for a business with only one phone line!
@How do I say this … THROWDINI!: I second that. I had no clue there were people who exist that don’t like Silversun Pickups. They’re a great band.
@DocStrange: Really? I’d be hard-pressed to find anybody I know who likes them! I’m not trying to be contentious either, just stating the facts.
@DocStrange: I’m (obviously) with you on this one, I don’t know anybody who has actually heard of them that doesn’t like them. @Big Gray.: I know this TATE thread, but I’m curious, what do you and your kind dislike about them?
@How do I say this … THROWDINI!: I just think they sound like warmed over, super-slick alt rock to me. It’s a throwback to a sound (say, Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream-era?) that I wasn’t particularly missing. They’re certainly competent, but it’s just not my jam.
@Big Gray.: Fair enough. You’re definitely on to something with the Smashing Pumpkins reference, those were the first words out of my friend’s mouth when he heard Lazy Eye, but he loves SP, so that was fine with him.
While I agree in general with Ian Cohen’s opinion about the TATE album – geez, “Sometime Around Midnight” is such a pastiche that it sounds like a parody – I have to question a couple of things that he says in his review:
“I probably couldn’t get anyone here in Los Angeles to admit it, but the city lacks a flasgship upstart indie band and wants one in the worst way.”
I’m not exactly sure how an entire city can “want a flagship upstart indie band in the worst way” – but, even moreso, if no one in L.A. will own up to having this wish / desire, how does he know that it exists?
“It’s no surprise that many are betting the house on the Airborne Toxic Event.”
What exactly does it mean to “bet the house” on a band? Who is doing the “betting” (aside from the band’s label)? Is there a stock market for indie bands that I don’t know about?
Maybe they should write a really, really great response song instead, like Pelle Carlberg’s “Go To Hell, Miss Rydell,” which is about him attempting to contact the woman who gave him a bad review.
@Lucas Jensen: I actually don’t hear alot of these alleged Smashing Pumpkins connections. If anything they remind me of Slowdive (right down to the vaguely Asian looking female bassist)
@owenmeany: Well, it’s not just L.A. spinning “Sometime Around Midnight”. The track is now at #33 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart [www.billboard.com]
@DocStrange: Correction: I don’t hear as much SP connections as most do (as they do kind of remind me of Siamese Dream era Pumpkins with more input from the whole band, as unlike the Pumpkins, SSPU aren’t led by an egomaniac), but I hear alot more of their influence from Slowdive, My Bloody Valenite and (kinda) Lush.
@DocStrange: I WISH I heard the stuff you are talking about, but I love those bands (I’ve been in a shoegaze band myself), and I feel nothing but antipathy towards SSPU.
You’ve been in a shoegaze band, Lucas — but have you ever been in a FLAGSHIP band? What is a flagship band, and why does LA need one? Is it just a source of civic pride, or is it like a stimulus check for the musical economy? Does a rising flagship band lift all boats?
All kidding aside, you’re doing a great job as a guest Idolator, Lucas. As a fellow Georgian, maybe you can break it down for me on a local level. Is REM a flagship band that buys restaurants and inspires musically talented young folk to move to Athens? Are the Black Lips a flagship band, taking other Atlanta bands on the road with them and stimulating interest in local labels like Douchemaster and Rob’s House?
Does New York/Brooklyn have a flagship upstart indie rock band?
@gregcoff: It actually changes every month.
@manyjars: Thanks! I would say that REM is definitely the flagship band for Athens, but don’t forget Widespread Panic (not my taste, but great guys and good catalysts for local culture) and the E6 guys as well as semi-flagships Drive-By Truckers and of Montreal and up-and-coming flagships like The Whigs. Uh…But, yeah, REM is definitely the big one. But I really never talked about flagships, I swear! I have no opinion really as to whether LA has a flagship band. My understand is that, as it’s a rather fractious city, the scenes are often pitted against each other and it’s hard to develop that cohesion that makes a scene successful. But I’ve actually never been there, so what do I know?
I’d argue that Atlanta has always had a problem with its geography making it hard for scenes to develop. The great Cabbagetown scene of the 90s came from one centralized location. I’m iffy as to whether Rob’s House will turn into anything more than Deerhunter and the Black Lips (though hopeful), but there certainly is more going down in Atlanta than has been happening for quite some time, at least in terms of scene cohesion. As far as Flagship Bands go, though? I’m not sure yet if they really qualify.
And I’m acting like I know what a flagship upstart indie rock band is!
@RaptorAvatar: You live in L.A. and this is the first you’ve heard of them? Their single is in heavy rotation on Indie 103-1, KROQ, 100.3 The Sound, Star 98-7 AND it’s played on KCRW. Wanna hear what they sound like? Pay attention to what’s happening in your city, or don’t claim it as your ‘hood.
Sorry, you’re probably too cool for ‘mainstream radio.’ “The ‘Fork”? C’mon fella.
@owenmeany: That’s not very nice. LA’s a big city and there’s a lot going on, no? And it’s not like mainstream radio has given anybody incentive to listen to it in the last, oh, 10 years.
@D.R. Mosby: I think you’re right. How exactly could some band could grow into “a flagship upstart indie band”? In LA, it would have to be some unsigned band that starts getting played on Indie 103.1 (maybe the feel my heat show), leading to a few buzzy, sold out shows at Spaceland, a late-afternoon slot at Sunset Junction, an opening slot at the Fonda for the likes of Spoon, radioplay on KROQ, Star (starting on Oxomatli’s morning show) and maybe The Sound, growing from there.
I think if you replace KROQ for Indie in my example above (didn’t KROQ start playing them first, before they even got a record deal?), you basically have TATE. And not be beat a dead horse, but Silversun Pickups. And maybe Rilo Kiley. And yet, no flagship band.
I think LA is too big and diverse for a flagship band, espeically an “indie” one. And for that matter, why would we want one? What’s the benefit? It would just mean that in 2018, we’d hear them on KROQ constantly, like RHCP now. No thanks.
i hope silversun pickups isn’t L.A.’s flagship indie band. why would he assume they are? perhaps i am out of the loop, but last time i checked i don’t know anyone who gives a **** about silversun pickups in any sort of serious way.
i personally don’t like them. they are boring to me, and so i would hope L.A.’s (and by extension, a lot of Southern California’s) flagship band to be a bit more exciting or, at the very least, (marginally) interesting.