february is shaping up to have a lot of shows, actually. i just hope the weather co-operates.

i may sneak a show in on sunday....

i've pointed out repeatedly that i'm not a fan of metal, and particularly have a real hate on for metal culture, but this isn't really metal. unfortunately, we appear to be in a metal moment. when we go through these phases, i'm going to exist on the fringes rather than dive into the middle. so, i'm going to seek out what could be referred to as alternative metal.

i went over this once before: i usually identify as punk, but what i'm trying to articulate is a certain kind of alternative counter-cultural vision. punk is really probably actually dead this time. but, that alternative counter-culture is older than punk is - it is the same alternative counter-culture that the hippies and the beatniks articulated, and the same alternative counter-culture that ravers and cyberpunks have articulated since. don't misunderstand me: rock culture is dying. but, if the mainstream rock counter-culture of the era is metal, it will necessarily produce an alternative counter-culture in a concept of alternative metal and this is what i'm going to be attracted to, if i'm going to be attracted to anything from the period at all.

see, i might not like metal, but i like hardcore punk and i like shoegaze and i like dream pop and i like jazz and i like grunge and i like post rock and i like math rock. metal is really the exception; i like most rock period genres. and, the actual reason that metal is the exception is that it's so fucking cock driven. what you could say is that i can't fucking stand cock rock, and therefore can't fucking stand most metal, because it defines itself that way. but, what that means is that i can get into these alt-metal hybrids if they get outside of the cock rock...

i haven't decided yet. this is a vocal style that i can turn sour on very quickly after repeated listens. but i think that the wall of guitars and reverberated vocals will be a good head cave, so it's leaning this way.