Art-rock is back, complete with experimental haircuts. johnny dee is delighted |
 |
|
|
In 1989 David Bowie formed the dreadful Tin Machine, stopped wearing lipstick and singing about glass spiders, said that he wanted to be called Dave and be in a regular rock group from now on.
That signalled a sea-change in alternative pop. Being arty, or trying to make establishment-quaking 'statements' via the medium of hairstyles, became as unfashionable as a Tory MP in a backwards baseball cap. But today, maybe as a reaction to the machismo of hip-hop and the blandness of so much major rock, artiness is once more an act of defiance. Former art students, Bloc Party for instance, are the dominant force in interesting pop - sporting experimental hair and comparing
|
 |
their melodies to Picasso.
I like it: it means we get more than just a ring tone; we also get a cultural education via the bands' NME interviews. For the first time since The Smiths there isn't just the music - there's the book the lead singer likes, a movie the drummer recommends, and an artist they've based their sleeve designs on.
We have Glasgow art-rock gentry Franz Ferdinand to thank for this refreshing development - and the video for their new single Do You Want To marks something of a pinnacle, with the Franz gang sloshing around a gallery opening, flailing into the exhibits and party-goers. It's wonderful but also, thankfully, knowingly daft - like The Monkees do Andy Warhol. Because there's nothing more dull than an arty popstar taking himself too seriously - which, of course, is where "Dave" went wrong. 
|
|
 |
