Just as The Hives frontman, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist had a stab at the world of rock – complaining that it “has been pretty shit for a very, very long time”, now the world of indie has its own critics.
NME reports that Brooklynites, The Drums have hit out against fellow indie bands for releasing collaborations together for the wrong reasons.
Band leader Jonathan Pierce told NME that many of today’s collaborations are in “bad taste” and confuse artists’ identities, saying “there’s too many collaborations these days that have big dollar signs all over it – even inside of the indie culture. You know, like, bands teaming up and making sort of an indie power duo or something like that? It’s just bad taste.”
Fellow bandmate and Pierce’s childhood friend, Jacob Graham concurs, “everybody just seems to be losing their identity. You know, we really just like bands with strong identities.”
They neglected to name names however, leaving everyone else to do the guess work. Could they be referring to fellow pop band Fun. teaming up with Paramore’s Hayley Williams to cover Gotye’s ubiquitous Somebody That I Used To Know?
Or perhaps they are aiming at bigger guns, like Harvest Festival headliner Beck, who’s recently been in musical cahoots with Childish Gambino rapping and producing his track “Silk Pillow”; as well as a recent double-A side with Jack White on the latter’s Third Man Records.
Pierece wouldn’t divulge details, but t’s not the first time they’ve complained about the genre they’ve been lumped in with.
Love Pierce Brothers?
Get the latest Pierce Brothers news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
On the eve of their self-titled debut, back in 2010, Pierce told NME ” I can’t think of anything more unattractive than wanting to be indie for indie’s sake.”
In related news, the band are reportedly taking a break from working on their third studio record, the follow-up to 2011 sophomore Portamento. “We accidentally sort of started,” explains Pierce, “then we decided to just stop. We just know ourselves too well and if we keep writing, we’re gonna have an album out before we know it and that’s how Portamento sort of leaked out.”
Further commenting on the band’s second album, Pierce remarked, “not that ‘Portamento’ was a mistake – we love the album, but we just want to take some time. When you have a new record out, you’ve got to be on the road for two years. So we’ve been on the road since we started this band and we’re exhausted and we’re just ready for some rest.”
Reports that it’ll feature some ‘bad taste’ collaborations are as yet unfounded.
