EDITOR’S NOTE!!!: I just received a Comment from a member of Big Troubles, who calmly (yes, calmly; much-appreciated) explained that these guys didn’t actually throw up everything they’d eaten over the course of the “Bite Yr Tongue” video … It was actually staged (aka Pretend, aka Not Real, aka They Didn’t Actually Throw Up All That Fast-Food), and I feel like a throbbing dummy for not having anticipated this or at least checked with the band first. Then again, that’s hindsight, no? When I watched the video for the first time I had absolutely no doubts it was really happening. Maybe I’m showing my ignorance here (the part where one of them vomits right after exiting the Port-a-Potty is a dead giveaway; obviously he chugged some Pepto in there and jettisoned it upon exiting) but I’m not the best judge of vomit, obviously. And, as I mentioned in my Reply comment, I do feel it would have benefitted Big Troubles to think this through more thoroughly, and I still think that a lot of people will watch “Bite Yr Tongue” and get the same impression I did and perhaps, even if subconsciously, glean that this sort of behavior is fun and hip. But, in the end, I’m really glad Big Troubles clarified this. As much as it probably seems like I overdid it, it is a HUGE relief to know this bulimia tutorial didn’t, in actuality, happen. Ok, that’s it, thanks for reading!
I’m so livid right now I can barely type straight. I just watched the most offensive music video I’ve ever seen: Big Troubles‘ “Bite Yr Tongue.” I first caught wind of it after reading this Andrew Earles-ish post entitled “Big Trouble in Total Trashville.”
Depicted in the video? Oh, not much, just, say, a group of kids literally acting out 20 percent of the after-school specials you’ve ever seen.
They buy fast food, eat it, and THROW IT UP like a tribe of mini-Zoolanders, delighting in their ignorance and sheer stupidity like a pack of mini-P. Hiltons.
Just what in god’s name is next, people? Why didn’t they just perform ritual murder? Or, for the absolute PRIME shock quotient, molest a child or two?
This is beyond nihilism, beyond belief, beyond me. Bulimia is not cute; bulimia is not funny; bulimia is not hip.
As a result of seeing this video and having my absolute socks knocked off, I’m asking y’all (C’MON Y’ALL, SOUND THE CALL) to write Altered Zones (and by extension Pitchfork) and ask “Why” … or, more appropriately, “How”: How can you not only casually mention this video, but endorse it?
How did this happen? Indie-rock didn’t used to wear camouflage pants and absentmindedly twiddle toothpicks around in its mouth like a truck-stop hick, but now, it seems a lot of us are truly losing our grip on this whole scene, the influence of a whole new wave of popularity diluting what made our little corner of the world special.
I’m fairly sure Steve Albini, Ice-T and Saddam Hussein, watching from hell, would all see this video and wonder just what the EFF is happening here.
Maybe I’m a little too vigilant on this topic, but I have good reason, as several people I’ve been close to have not just been troubled by bulimia but almost ruined. Big Troubles should be ashamed of themselves for perpetuating the idea that committing an act as atrocious as deliberately bingeing and purging is as natural and fun as playing music, something to be laughed and stared at.
I want you to know (yes, you reading this) that I am not involving myself in this debate to be Edgy or Cantankerous or to pile more crap onto Altered Zones and Pitchfork.
Truly, I’m writing this post because I can’t NOT write this post. I’m actually really, really sick right now; the last thing I wanted to do today was write a long rant on this ridiculously discomforting music video. I’ve lost my voice and my mind and belly are sloshing over on themselves, but I had to commit my feelings on this to record.
I have a daughter, and I can only shudder at the thought of her stumbling upon a video like this someday and gleaning that behavior like this is Normal (not to mention Cool; note the sunglasses and beards).
And so I’ll ask it again: What the hell is going on? I’m pretty sure most of the folks behind this abomination didn’t think things through …
YOUR A FUCKING IDIOT AND YOUR A BAD WRITER.
i agree.
PREPARE TO FEEL THE BURN OF THE BEACH POP PR MACHINE.
“”YOUR A BAD WRITER”
YOUR GONNA FEEL IT, YES YOUR, OH YES YOU ARE.
i was SO hoping you’d come to my aid here. i’m going to be honest: reading your post on this thing totally emboldened me; I hate writing posts like this.
But i’m glad i did throw my two cents out there because this brand of “Extreme” is only going to get worse if we don’t speak up. Who knows, maybe a dialogue about what is and isn’t acceptable could arise so these artist aren’t just running into the woods with their shotguns, beards a-flowin, and coming back with more and more unacceptable ways to beg for attention.
In all my years of writing about Rock — I’m not freaking Christgau (a sad RIP goes out to his fantastic Consumer Guide) but I’ve got a good 10-11 years under my belt at this point — I’ve never felt so ashamed to be associated with the Machine, this group of young people that never took that course in Things You Should Never Do to promote your band.
Hi — we are not actually throwing up in this video! We are just spitting Pepto Bismol! It was just supposed to be goofy — feeling sick because we’d eaten too much junk… You’re right in thinking that we didnt really think through the fact that with the grainy super 8 film, the fakeness of the puke wouldnt really come through so well. we certainly werent trying to endorse (or even thinking of) bulimic purging– i feel bad to have bummed you out so hard// In retrospect we probably should have set up more of a narrative to make it clear that that the (fake) puking was supposed to look like something happening unintentionally–
jeez man! in the back of my mind there was this still, small voice saying, “there’s probably more to this than you know” and i guess my puke-analysis skills aren’t up to snuff … haha!
god, i realize the drama of this post is dialed up to like a THOUSAND but I’ve literally known people that would do exactly what (i thought) you guys were doing in the video. I was just telling the Rose Quartz blog guy about this relative of mine who used to sit around the house eating really weird things, like frozen bread (huh?) and weird stuff you’d never eat unless you were totally addicted to the bulimic process, and then THROW IT UP and start all over again. it was the craziest thing in the world and also really, really seriously scary because when one repeats this process enough times one’s reproductive abilities can be shut down, not to mention the problems it poses for teeth and all sorts of other stuff …
SO, I’m going to put an explanation at the top of this post explaining everything you just mentioned, just in case people don’t make it down to the Comments section and see what you wrote. I definitely think this was a pretty ill-advised sequence of events to put in a video but I’m really relieved to know you guys didn’t actually put yourself through this, I hope you can see how extreme this seemed to me when I watched it.
also, incidentally, thanks for explaining the situation rather than just ripping into me. i’m sensitive when it comes down to it and I really don’t write stuff like this unless there’s a damn dragon in my belly demanding that I do so.
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Can’t deny a dragon in your belly when she starts smoking! Glad somebody’s speaking up for the unspoken masses but also that my friend Alex was able to clear all this up!
phew!,
a Jackal
PS – You really think this song sounds like Best Coast?
haha, you’re good, I just realized I meant Beach Fossils, not Best Coast, so way to go for pointing out my suckiness. i should have just stuck to talking about the whole puking thing and stayed away from actual musical criticism on this one because, truth is, I don’t have a problem — at all — with the actual song.
I guess I can see how many tag it as More of The Same but, truth be told, I’m not in the “scene” enough to have heard all the stuff this purportedly sounds like and, again, I didn’t think it was bad at all.
The “second-rate” comment was more of an outgrowth of my vitriol and I regret including that. It must suck to work hard on your music and have someone toss out a half-baked description like that so I can see why you’re a little vexed … hope i’m making sense!
More than anything else I really, really just want to put this post behind me. I literally typed it out in a fever-flash of inspiration and this kind of commentary just isn’t what I got into music-critiquing to do.
I appreciate you getting involved in the dialogue here, by the way. Best,
Gummy Grove Man
i definitely hear Woven Bones in the vocals though. feel me on that one? not an insult …
No matter the explanation, the video still shows poor judgement and taste.
this point has also occurred to me, thanks for bringing it up. as I said in my UPDATE, I still believe this whole video concoction wasn’t really thought through enough …
I’d love for a few more people to weigh in on this topic too. for now, I’m done making judgements on this music video myself. I’m looking for a job, among a million other things, and this drama has been eating away at my resolve … not to mention that, as I mentioned below, this is not what I got into music-criticism to do.
thanks so much for the comment though, cheers!
Just FYI — This video was never posted on Altered Zones. http://alteredzones.com/search/?q=big+troubles
thanks for the Comment. I was told the video was posted by 4 or 5 of the blogs circulated by AZ and I apologize for not making that distinction.
On more thought: This is one of the problems with P4K creating an entity that ropes in so many disparate blogs, innit? Any songs/videos/opinions/etc. posted by those blogs are going to be eternally linked to Altered Zones and its wide umbrella.
PS — I’m not a “bitch-first” reviewer, I swear to god. I’m just frustrated with P4k in general for reasons mentioned in yesterday’s post, but also, MAINly because of all the typos that make it onto both the main page and AZ. I’ve even offered to help, sending corrections over to Mark Richardson and making it clear that if he ever wants any freelance editing help I’d be glad to jump in … I’m not saying they have to accept my offer to help to keep their integrity, but if not me, why not enlist an editing whiz (one who will perhaps agree with their opinions more often) and nip this problem in the bud? I check out the site, in-depth, maybe once every three weeks and it usually takes a glance at The Out Door and a review or two to find missing periods, sentences that don’t contain the usual, agreed-upon sentence requirements (subject, verb) and other vexing errors.
How can so much cash/effort be spent on these sites and so little cheddar (sharp) thrown at the more journalistic aspects of music journalism?
UPDATE: The typo detailed below STILL hasn’t been fixed; why?
See, here’s an example: Today’s news item, written by Larry Fitzmaurice, on the new Panda Bear single (“You Can Count on Me”) contains the following sentence:
“It’s limited to 500 copies Domino is offering it for pre-order now.”
Is that a sentence? Maybe. Is it awkward, clunky and fairly easy to spot? Absolutely. And don’t blame the writer here; Fitzmaurice has OWNED P4K lately and all writers get caught throwing down sentences like this … the question is, where’s the goalie?
This is so common, and I literally just flipped my browser over to P4K for 3 seconds, clicked on the Panda Bear news piece, and BAM, found an achingly obvious typo JUST LIKE THAT. That’s how it’s been for awhile now. Millions of dollars flowing in and there isn’t cash for a copy editor?