Couple of things...

I could care less if anything stays underground (no such thing anyway, especially with the internet and media saturation). I haven't worried about "street cred" for probably 25 years, if I ever did. That's not at all my point. The quality of the video has nothing to do with my ire - it's what it represents that set me off.

I don't mind labels and bands getting paid for their hard work. I have played in bands since 1980 and run a record label and have published zines and ran a screen printing and sticker company. As much as I would love somebody to pay me for my hard work, I'm not going to take corporate money. Period. When I was a kid, if we wanted anything we did it ourselves. If we wanted to do a show or put out a record or make t-shirts and stickers - you just went out and did it. There was a scene that supported your efforts and that's how you got paid - not taking a dollar from McDonald's. I still feel that this is the way things should be done. Everything I've done has gotten by and I've very rarely lost money on any of my projects and this has all come from the support of fans, etc who have specifically done things with because I am anti-corporate. I've had a couple of offers over the years and I turned them down (Virgin and WEA). In 1998, an instrumental song I had written and recorded in 1991 (and had forgotten about) ended up in a national ad for an insurance company (take too long to explain how they got the song). I didn't even know it until I got a pretty substantial check (I owned a TV and VCR with no access to broadcast TV). Even though I was in somewhat dire financial straits at the time, I donated the money to a homeless shelter and a food bank. It has nothing to do with "street cred" or "hip factor" or "staying underground". I just don't believe in taking corporate money for my crap. I avoid all corporate culture as much as possible and it's easier than you'd think. I can think of several labels who are doing quite well without becoming corporate whores and taking their filthy lucre. They are very successful and did it with fan support and they're bigger than any of these labels that are selling their souls.

A good chunk of these bands are about as real as the tits on a Barbie. When you interview some of these bands and they don't have any reference point for the music they're playing, it makes you wonder. They don't know anything about the 60s bands or even the 80s garage bands that made all of this possible. They don't know anything about the people who built this from the ground up. That's not only unforgivable, it's suspect (age is NO excuse, especially with the availability of all of this stuff). It's just like when punk broke in the 70s, bands were all of the sudden "punk" bands because they saw it as a way to get noticed. The same thing's happening with this. I don't see most of these bands as the "real deal" - I see them as just the opposite. I'm not operating in a vacuum here or sitting in an ivory tower pontificating. I am actively involved as a promoter, a label owner, a "musician" and a "journalist" and have been doing this shit for 30 years (shit, I am old!). I call bullshit on most of these newer bands.

Most importantly, I am a crotchety old fuck and earned the right to be a fucking curmudgeon.

Honestly, I don't really care as much about this as I make out. Though I believe in everything I said, the bottom line is that I am laid up after knee surgery, I don't watch TV and am really bored. I do believe that Scion are corporate assholes and Vice are a bunch of douche bags. I hate seeing people smooching corporate ass and I kind of felt like baiting people - I am that bored. I guess that makes me an asshole.

Agreed. This is actually a pretty cool thing and people are still gonna poop all over it. I am totally fine with this video, ITR, Vice, Goner, Scion, etc. Sure, it's not the best video I've ever seen. Nor is every single band mentioned God's gift to music (but if it was, people would still piss & moan). I mean, this video and it's sponsors are not pure evil or anything to really worry about. This is stuff to just have fun with. I listen to this kind of music because it's fun, not because I want to take part in some "who's cooler with more cred" pissing contest. Lighten up. People like to bitch about how lame everything is. Now, here I am bitching about how lame those curmudgeonly whiners are. Does that make me cool? Does anybody care? Fuck no. Is anybody still reading this? Who cares?

TeenFink said:

some people just gotta bitch about everything. the same thing always happens when people suddenly hear a cool song on a TV commercial. this has happened countless times in the past. people will bitch that the so-and-so's "sold out" and complain about it somehow ruining the music they love. fucking crybabies. it's like they want the music to stay "underground" to help their street cred, so they can be the only ones on their block that like this band or that. they hate the idea of a band or label actually getting paid for their hard work. most of the time these bands don't even have a say in it. marketing agencies buy the rights to use the songs from whatever performance rights organization the band or label belongs to.

"waaaah! it's not '60s enough! waaaaah, they're trying to sell cars! waaaaaah, i overheard some kid say something dumb at a show and it's THEIR FAULT!" jesus christ, shut the fuck up already. you guys sound like crotchety old fucks.

in case you haven't noticed, Scion & Vice have gone well beyond this by actually trying to promote a new (to most people, anyway) musical phenomenon or movement. they're sponsoring it, so obviously they're hoping for some kind of kickback (in the form of selling cars and magazines), but that's the nature of capitalism. they've invested a lot of time and money into doing something cool for a change, and they're obviously doing their homework. i think it was worse back when the mainstream was calling crap like the Strokes garage rock. that, to me, was the biggest insult ever. so instead of being your typical corporate sponsor and going after hip hop or warped tour bullshit or whatever other lame pop music you can name, they're actually tapping into the real deal. how often do bands, people, labels, etc in this scene get any chance to get some real exposure or to make any real money? cut 'em some fucking slack.

some people just gotta bitch about everything. the same thing always happens when people suddenly hear a cool song on a TV commercial. this has happened countless times in the past. people will bitch that the so-and-so's "sold out" and complain about it somehow ruining the music they love. fucking crybabies. it's like they want the music to stay "underground" to help their street cred, so they can be the only ones on their block that like this band or that. they hate the idea of a band or label actually getting paid for their hard work. most of the time these bands don't even have a say in it. marketing agencies buy the rights to use the songs from whatever performance rights organization the band or label belongs to.

"waaaah! it's not '60s enough! waaaaah, they're trying to sell cars! waaaaaah, i overheard some kid say something dumb at a show and it's THEIR FAULT!" jesus christ, shut the fuck up already. you guys sound like crotchety old fucks.

in case you haven't noticed, Scion & Vice have gone well beyond this by actually trying to promote a new (to most people, anyway) musical phenomenon or movement. they're sponsoring it, so obviously they're hoping for some kind of kickback (in the form of selling cars and magazines), but that's the nature of capitalism. they've invested a lot of time and money into doing something cool for a change, and they're obviously doing their homework. i think it was worse back when the mainstream was calling crap like the Strokes garage rock. that, to me, was the biggest insult ever. so instead of being your typical corporate sponsor and going after hip hop or warped tour bullshit or whatever other lame pop music you can name, they're actually tapping into the real deal. how often do bands, people, labels, etc in this scene get any chance to get some real exposure or to make any real money? cut 'em some fucking slack.

agreed, kopper -
I think Goner and ITR records are two very cool labels doing cool stuff. I'm sure people are accusing them of selling out, too. People have the right to bitch and be negative about the video and not like it. I mean, you can't please all the people all the time, right? But, I think, in the big picture, it is not a bad thing at all.
If a car company wants to help get a video out there showing this little slice of the music world, that is a good thing, if you ask me.
I wouldn't worry about "garage rock" getting all commercial and selling out anytime soon and "ruining how cool it is" or anything.
I mean, look at the "garage rock revival of the early 2000s":
That lasted a little longer than a half gallon of milk...


Hideout Admin said:

Goner gets a pretty good plug in this, too, and really, what's the harm in that?

Do I dig all the bands? No, not particularly. But I do dig most of them, and I think exposing this music to a new generation of kids can do nothing but help the entire scene and culture surrounding it. The great thing about garage rock is it's the melting pot of rock'n'roll. REAL rock'n'roll. In it you'll find the roots of all great rock'n'roll... '60s garage, psych, rockabilly, R&B, frat rock, freakbeat, '70s punk, new wave, surf, power pop, swamp rock... even heavy metal, hardcore punk, goth and noise.

"Pretty fucking revolting" is quite a stretch, though, Mr. Electrocute Your Cock. I can find a helluva lot more "pretty fucking revolting" music out there to be pretty fucking revolted by (like this, for example), but the Vivian Girls or the Magic Kids? Come on.

The only thing that really bugs the SHIT outta me about this FUCKING video is that they bleep out all of the FUCKING curse words. If they're so into promoting this music, why are they censoring it?

KK Dirty Money said:

I thought the video was pretty cool and well done. And I think Vice and Scion are doing kind of a cool thing by "getting involved" with this type of "culture". Sure, the video was pretty much a good way to plug In The Red Records, and it is also a way to promote Scion and Vice. Sure, it's all commercial, etc., but without getting all bent outta shape about it, it is still entertaining and cool (just keep in mind it is totally spun from the perspective of Scion, Vice, In The Red).
But, unless you seal yourself off in a cave, we're all cogs in the wheel of our corporate American machines. Garage rock (of almost any form) plays a role in it all. Sure, hipster/scenesters can be annoying, no doubt about that.
But, I gotta say: I've driven a Scion XB for years and it is the best car I've ever dealt with (in terms of economy and practicality, esp for a musician), and I dig In The Red and Vice, too. So, whatever. I'm entertained...
As far as record labels, car companies, and other capitalist machines go in terms of doing anything for "garage rock of today", this is probably one of the coolest things I've seen lately. Lighten up, we should just sit back and enjoy that shit like this is being created for us.

Goner gets a pretty good plug in this, too, and really, what's the harm in that?

Do I dig all the bands? No, not particularly. But I do dig most of them, and I think exposing this music to a new generation of kids can do nothing but help the entire scene and culture surrounding it. The great thing about garage rock is it's the melting pot of rock'n'roll. REAL rock'n'roll. In it you'll find the roots of all great rock'n'roll... '60s garage, psych, rockabilly, R&B, frat rock, freakbeat, '70s punk, new wave, surf, power pop, swamp rock... even heavy metal, hardcore punk, goth and noise.

"Pretty fucking revolting" is quite a stretch, though, Mr. Electrocute Your Cock. I can find a helluva lot more "pretty fucking revolting" music out there to be pretty fucking revolted by (like this, for example), but the Vivian Girls or the Magic Kids? Come on.

The only thing that really bugs the SHIT outta me about this FUCKING video is that they bleep out all of the FUCKING curse words. If they're so into promoting this music, why are they censoring it?

KK Dirty Money said:

I thought the video was pretty cool and well done. And I think Vice and Scion are doing kind of a cool thing by "getting involved" with this type of "culture". Sure, the video was pretty much a good way to plug In The Red Records, and it is also a way to promote Scion and Vice. Sure, it's all commercial, etc., but without getting all bent outta shape about it, it is still entertaining and cool (just keep in mind it is totally spun from the perspective of Scion, Vice, In The Red).
But, unless you seal yourself off in a cave, we're all cogs in the wheel of our corporate American machines. Garage rock (of almost any form) plays a role in it all. Sure, hipster/scenesters can be annoying, no doubt about that.
But, I gotta say: I've driven a Scion XB for years and it is the best car I've ever dealt with (in terms of economy and practicality, esp for a musician), and I dig In The Red and Vice, too. So, whatever. I'm entertained...
As far as record labels, car companies, and other capitalist machines go in terms of doing anything for "garage rock of today", this is probably one of the coolest things I've seen lately. Lighten up, we should just sit back and enjoy that shit like this is being created for us.

I thought the video was pretty cool and well done. And I think Vice and Scion are doing kind of a cool thing by "getting involved" with this type of "culture". Sure, the video was pretty much a good way to plug In The Red Records, and it is also a way to promote Scion and Vice. Sure, it's all commercial, etc., but without getting all bent outta shape about it, it is still entertaining and cool (just keep in mind it is totally spun from the perspective of Scion, Vice, In The Red).
But, unless you seal yourself off in a cave, we're all cogs in the wheel of our corporate American machines. Garage rock (of almost any form) plays a role in it all. Sure, hipster/scenesters can be annoying, no doubt about that.
But, I gotta say: I've driven a Scion XB for years and it is the best car I've ever dealt with (in terms of economy and practicality, esp for a musician), and I dig In The Red and Vice, too. So, whatever. I'm entertained...
As far as record labels, car companies, and other capitalist machines go in terms of doing anything for "garage rock of today", this is probably one of the coolest things I've seen lately. Lighten up, we should just sit back and enjoy that shit like this is being created for us.

Wow, you guys must be what they call "garage purists."

Eastwood said:

yeahhhhhhh...
pretty lame overall...


Count Brockula said:

Revolting. Watching this thing made me want to punch a wall. Corporate co-opting of a culture in order to market to a new demographic. Vice and Scion are what's wrong with the scene. They're not injecting anything into it or helping it at all. Shit like this is poisonous to the development and maturation of a scene. A good chunk of the music is just garbage (Hunx & His Punx, Vivian Girls, Smith Westerns, blah blah blah) while real garage bands (and I hesitate to use that term) are being ignored as they don't sound like the pablum people are being spoon fed that they've been told is garage. I was dj-ing the other night and it had been billed as a night of garage, punk, and r and b. Hipster assholes kept coming up to me all night asking when I was going to play some garage - after I had just played a 30 minute set of 60s garage and 60s influenced garage (they wanted to hear "REAL" garage - White Stripes, Strange Boys...fuckin' losers). At a Cynics show earlier in the month, I heard more than one conversation along the lines of "I thought they played garage". Fuck all this Scion and Vice bullshit - it's a dance with the devil. Luckily, this will all die out, the corporate vultures will circle the next victim to pick clean, and things will shake out and get back to normal.

yeahhhhhhh... pretty lame overall...

Count Brockula said:

Revolting. Watching this thing made me want to punch a wall. Corporate co-opting of a culture in order to market to a new demographic. Vice and Scion are what's wrong with the scene. They're not injecting anything into it or helping it at all. Shit like this is poisonous to the development and maturation of a scene. A good chunk of the music is just garbage (Hunx & His Punx, Vivian Girls, Smith Westerns, blah blah blah) while real garage bands (and I hesitate to use that term) are being ignored as they don't sound like the pablum people are being spoon fed that they've been told is garage. I was dj-ing the other night and it had been billed as a night of garage, punk, and r and b. Hipster assholes kept coming up to me all night asking when I was going to play some garage - after I had just played a 30 minute set of 60s garage and 60s influenced garage (they wanted to hear "REAL" garage - White Stripes, Strange Boys...fuckin' losers). At a Cynics show earlier in the month, I heard more than one conversation along the lines of "I thought they played garage". Fuck all this Scion and Vice bullshit - it's a dance with the devil. Luckily, this will all die out, the corporate vultures will circle the next victim to pick clean, and things will shake out and get back to normal.

Revolting. Watching this thing made me want to punch a wall. Corporate co-opting of a culture in order to market to a new demographic. Vice and Scion are what's wrong with the scene. They're not injecting anything into it or helping it at all. Shit like this is poisonous to the development and maturation of a scene. A good chunk of the music is just garbage (Hunx & His Punx, Vivian Girls, Smith Westerns, blah blah blah) while real garage bands (and I hesitate to use that term) are being ignored as they don't sound like the pablum people are being spoon fed that they've been told is garage. I was dj-ing the other night and it had been billed as a night of garage, punk, and r and b. Hipster assholes kept coming up to me all night asking when I was going to play some garage - after I had just played a 30 minute set of 60s garage and 60s influenced garage (they wanted to hear "REAL" garage - White Stripes, Strange Boys...fuckin' losers). At a Cynics show earlier in the month, I heard more than one conversation along the lines of "I thought they played garage". Fuck all this Scion and Vice bullshit - it's a dance with the devil. Luckily, this will all die out, the corporate vultures will circle the next victim to pick clean, and things will shake out and get back to normal.

There goes my night.

In Love With These Times? What the hell does that mean? Car commercial.

Great documentary! Wanna have a beauty salon like Hunx!

Full Length HERE.

Second part was pretty weak, I don't give a shit about The Vivian Girls or Magic Kids and that Smith Westerns stuff was pretty fucking revolting. Fred Cole on the other hand, just awesome.

Gringo Starr said:

Great. Where's part 3!?

All 3 parts here:

http://steveterrell.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-garage-explosion.html

Thanks, dude!!! A lot of fun.

sick!!!

Thanks! Very Cool!

I just wanna know what kind of person would pay $100 for a Vivian Girls record. You could give me one for free and I'd still think I'd been ripped off.

I think Scion's approach to marketing is really well thought out. They also work with Juxtapoz magazine, it gives their product a real smart street credential. I'm on my second Scion XB, great car, the seats fold down and I can fit all my bands equipment in it. The headroom is awesome, I'm 6' 2" and I still have another 6 inches before I hit the roof. When you buy a Scion you don't negotiate the price, they are already set, so you don't have to go to other dealers to find a better price. Interest rates are the only thing you might be able to pit dealers against each other with, but I think it's all based on your credit score. Anyway, I like the fact that Scion is so involved with garage rock, you just don't see a lot big companies doing something like this.

Thanks for posting, very entertaining.

Scion and Vice are really helping to inject some life into this scene/culture. I just wish I'd see more of it in my own hometown.

It's being played in three parts on consecutive days, third part's available tomorrow, then the whole thing will play on thursday.

Great. Where's part 3!?

I'm halfway through part 1 right now, it's really fucking good.