Indie Anthems

British hipster bible NME, released a list of the Top Indie Anthems last week. Color me confused. Let’s face it, the apathetic mopes guzzling Pabst and arguing over the best Smiths record aren’t the most anthemic bunch. They don’t live on prayers or pour sugar on anything. So what could possibly be on this list?

10. Arctic Monkeys- I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor
Arctic Monkeys’ songs are more bubble gum dance breaks than emphatic calls to action. Besides, this tune has not stood the test of time. Pass.
9. The Strokes-Last Nite
This isn’t even the best song on “Is This It?” let alone one of the best indie songs of all time. Pass.
8. The Stone Roses- I Am The Resurrection
Here we go! A true hipster classic. The Stone Roses have influenced so many bands in their long career including The Shins and Blonde Redhead with their form of psychedelic dance pop. This track even has echoed drums; very anthemic!
7. The Smiths- How Soon Is Now?
Moz shouts out painfully, as only he can “I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does.” It is a voice of sadness and truth that reflects the melancholy side of indie rock. But is this song an anthem? If so, then for what? How about “Accept Yourself” or “This Charming Man”? These tunes give you something to rally around.
6. The Libertines- Time For Heroes
The reason this track is acceptable -- because it certainly ain’t the music; This one is pulled directly from Joe Strummer’s notebook -- is the lyrics. It has one of the best first lines ever “Did you see the stylish kids in the riot. We were shovelled up like muck, set the night on fire.”

5. The Libertines- Don’t Look Back Into The Sun
My first question when reading this list was “how can you have two songs by the Libertines and not a single offering from the Clash?” For shame. Pass.
4. The Smiths- There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
This should be number one, hands down. The fact that it comes in at number four makes this list obsolete. Expressing undying love by describing a fatal bus accident perfectly displays the paradox of indie anthems.
3. Pulp- Common People
What? Pass.
2. Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit
This is THE anthem. The over-the-top choruses and rebellious lyrical content take this song beyond the boundaries of indie rock or punk rock or grunge rock. This song has become Classic Rock.
1. Oasis- Live Forever
In a recent interview for the Irish Examiner, Noel Gallagher refered to his song “Live Forever” as a response to the Nirvana song “I Hate Myself and I Want To Die.” He expressed his contempt for grunge-rock self-loathing. “I can't have people like that coming over here, on smack, saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's just rubbish.” Rubbish maybe, but also authentic. There is nothing authentic about Oasis here. Indie rockers are a paradox; striking a delicate balance between rebelling against bad musical cliché and imitating the iconography of their rock n’ roll heroes. The far-too-derivative Oasis have too much of one and not nearly enough of the other. Pass.

This list sucks. Few of the songs accomplish the goal of a great anthem, which is to inspire fists to punch the air and even the most embittered of music fans to sing along. These songs should embrace the ridiculousness of being anthemic while still being apathetically hip. If you are going to make a list of Indie Anthems, you must choose songs that rally the true believers, while maintaining a quiet modesty and emotion that characterizes the genre. See the revised list where pissed off scenesters voted exclusively, completely changing the list for the better. http://www.nme.com/anthems/top.php

Milk Boy

This is the unedited draft of a piece I did for Philadelphia Weekly I thought I would post. Rock On!


Along a narrow street that runs off of Lancaster Avenue into the heavily populated college neighborhoods of South Ardmore, a young woman yells “we love you, Tommy!” from an upstairs apartment. Tommy Joyner looks up at her and gives a wave. He is not walking the red carpet, he is just walking to work, but for some reason, there is nothing surprising about this interaction.
Maybe it’s his long, chestnut locks or his hipster cords, maybe it’s the soul patch, but something in his look, his general swagger, just screams rock and roll. Something within this dynamic entrepreneur seems to draw people in. From his adoring, passionate staff to his customers, everyone seems to idolize Joyner like they would a performer.
Joyner is the owner of Milkboy, a coffee bar/music venue/recording studio that has been making headlines in the past year, booking national acts and bringing music and a hot cup of joe to this reborn Main Line neighborhood.
What is amazing about Joyner is that this rock star persona does not seem like an act, it fits him like his favorite Milkboy t-shirt.
A performer himself, Joyner started re-mastering and recording his own band for friends and family, and eventually made a career out of it. This itch to discover, record and promote music has never gone away.
“I had my studio in Olney and had a record label. I never got tired of exposing artists and promoting new music. So when I moved the studio to Ardmore and stopped doing the label thing as much, I missed having something that the community could rally around.”
And the community has rallied. Joyner started Milkboy Coffee in early ‘06 and the coffeeshop now hosts several national and local acts a week, and with a new location and a residency program in place, they are set to corner the market on live music in the Western suburbs.
The new location, set under the marquee of the Bryn Mawr Film Institute is to be a local development venue where younger artists can get gig experience. Their cut will come from a tip jar and, depending on the response, they may get the opportunity to play the Ardmore stage. “We will immediately know if the band has a draw,” says Joyner.


Peppers Ghost, Halloween Show @ Milkboy

With the residency program, Joyner and company take their cues from bar and club owners, who often book bands for several shows consecutively to create loyalty out of routine. “We want to develop a built-in audience who hang out at Milkboy like someone else might a corner bar,” says Alex Stryer, Milkboy’s booking manager.
“Bands and club owners have always built relationships with artists in this way,” Joyner adds, “But a coffee shop doing it, I suppose is a little different. We just want to give talented artists a home.”
This music-focused approach to running a coffeeshop has not gone unnoticed. Since opening, Milkboy has received a number of write-ups from publications across the region. And more often than not, the press draws comparisons to former Bryn Mawr living-room-style java establishment The Point, which closed in 2005.
But Joyner and his partners have managed to set themselves apart in a town saturated by the double-half-caf-latte crowd. And their upcoming ventures show no signs of changing. With plans to record live performances and sponsoring larger acts in off-site locations, Joyner and company plan to stick with what they know. “We have always kept the focus on music. We book like a club, not like a coffeehouse. I was always a music guy. And now I am a restaurateur, hard to believe!”