Why So Serious?
I really enjoy listening to the first three Rancid albums. They remind me of being a rabble rousing teenager with angst in my pants. But even as a teenager, cracks began to show for me during their …And Out Come the Wolves album, when I heard Lars Fredrickson belt the stupidest lyric in of all time: “Little Sammy was a punk rocker!!!” It was then that I realized that me and these guys may not have a lot in common after all.
I’ve got nothing against being self aware with your punk-ness, but gimme a damn break. Little Sammy? It’s completely based on nothing. If you’ve got nothing important to say, don’t beat around the bush. I understand them wanting to be like The Clash, I really do. When I was younger I struggled with the fact that I couldn’t be like Joe Strummer and have something really groundbreaking to say. Once I was honest with myself in realizing that I was just a silly nose-picking suburban punk, I became much more relaxed in the process of creating music. Now I’m getting too serious here…
The aforementioned Lars is a great example of what I’m trying to get at in regard to taking oneself too seriously. I once read an interview he did in Maxim, and I was embarrassed by what a stupid asshole he was. Whoever did the interview made a bunch of jokes in the sidebar about him being a humorless idiot, and I couldn’t have agreed with them more. There’s a time and a place for The Clash; as a matter of fact, they’re my favorite band ever. But even Joe Strummer laughed and made jokes, and even interjected some humor into his music.
My point is this: Don’t try to be like The Clash if you don’t know where to begin. You’ll end up like Rancid, and you’ll put one of the guys from Good Charlotte in your music video and ask him to look scary. Yeah, they did that. It’s because they’re very confused people.
