THINGS I SHOULDN'T LIKE
While watching the crowd at the Priest show, I couldn't help but be reminded of my old metalhead days. Back then, the standard line to show that you were "open-minded" went something like, "I don't just like metal; I like everything … except for country and opera. And poseurs. And Madonna. She's a dick." Well, it turns out that country and opera weren't half-bad (poseurs and Madonna are still well worth avoiding), and in their place I've put jam bands and anonymous radio-rock, two genres that hold absolutely no interest for me whatsoever.
Of course, I don't go a day without getting proved wrong about something. And two recent releases from local (or at least quasi-local) bands have me questioning my rules.
funkUs, a long-running local jam band, has just released a new CD called "free". It's heavy on goofy melodies and off-kilter kumbaya shit, but it's still pretty good. If they weren't trying so hard to please hippies, I'd feel all right calling them a dorky and semi-soulful Meat Puppets. But since they never get truly freaky, I have to let them be a guilty pleasure. That said, their drummer is great, their songs are quirky, they're willfully independent and their harmonies are like nails on a chalkboard...
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