Here's some errespondence between me and the editor of Creative Loafing about that scathing review.
From: Ned Davis
To: gina.webb @ creativeloafing.com
Subject: re: PopCanon
Date: Tuesday, July 07, 1998 2:07 PM
Hello, Gina Webb.
I just left a voice message, but realized you may never get it. My band PopCanon
received a staggeringly sharp dismissal in the 5.23.98 version of Creative Loafing--our
entire CD review (by Jeff Griffin) was:
'Funkless art-dross that made new wave eggheads like Oingo Boingo, or maybe
Gleaming Spires, quickly tiresome. *1/2'
Yow! sez I--a negative comparison to Gleaming Spires! Anyone who can make such
an obscure reference is OK in our book.
So i'm writing to invite Mr. Griffin and yourself to please attend our show
this Friday night (10 July) at Dottie's--no hard feelings, really.
Thanks,
Ned Davis
PopCanon Minister of Dissonance & Disinformation
(to which she replied)
> well mr ned davis i'm kinda confused. nobody here named jeff griffin--could
you be confusing us with a creative loafing in another city? charlotte? greenville?
do you have a copy of said paper? maybe it's the tampa paper.
yes, indeed, as i look again at the envelope in which my onesheet was mailed, it appears to be from Savannah. I consulted with a bandmate about this, and he assured me that must just be the satellite mailing address at which the main Atlanta paper is made...apparently not, eh? My apologies.
> PLUS does he mean that funkless art-dross made bands like oingo boingo, and that YOU were quickly tiresome? or does he mean that oingo boingo was made quickly tiresome because they played funkless art-dross? the sentence could be interpreted several ways. also i have my doubts about that "quickly tiresome" bit, period.
Excellent points, all. I should have known simply from the sloppiness--both grammatical and logical, not to mention musicological (Dead Man's Party is a great song!)--that this was the work of one of those poseur Creative Loafings from the hinterlands, not the cosmopolitan mecca of breeding and style that is Atlanta.
Plainly, though, I think we could all agree that Mr. Griffin didn't care for it, though as i said before, the reference to Gleaming Spires was (to me) a bit *in*spired...how many people in this country know of the band whose only 'hit' was the very minor 'Are You Ready For The Sex Girls?'
And still: 'Funkless art-dross'--doesn't that just SING? We're thinking of putting it in the ads, and on a tshirt. Also, 'dross' (which i believe he was using as a synonym for 'chaff'), really refers to 'the solid scum that forms on the surface of a metal through oxidation'--so what's that about? Does Creative Loafing hire a lot of stringers from the metallurgical world?
Also, what was the 1/2* for? One star I can understand--he hated it. But *1/2? What was the bonus half* for? Was it a pun?
> as an editor, i'm appalled. as a writer, i WANT CLARITY. and if it's going to be a terse, one-sentence dismissal and not that well-written, don't you think it should be a lot funnier?
well, naturally--that's what we all strive for. Clarity, and the funny. ESPECIALLY for a snappy dismissal. I remember a famous review from Musician Magazine for the progrock album GRT: 'SHT' You can't get much snappier than that.
Although we just got another short dismissal yesterday, from a zine called The Angry Thoreauean, which is actually TWO sentences, though the second is but a single word: 'A truly awful attempt to mix AC/DC and seminal punk band BIG BOYS that wishes it were CAPTAIN BEEFHEART or Frank Zappa. Avoid.'
OK, the first question is--why the random CAPS? And in the light of the etymology of 'dross' and this reference to AC/DC...hmm, perhaps we're a metal band after all. A metal band that wishes it were Captain Beefheart--sorry, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART.
Finally, why did they spell the name PopCanon like this: Pop Cannon ? Don't music reviewer actually LOOK at the CDs they're reviewing? well, i bet they do in Atlanta...
Speaking of which, would Creative Loafing Atlanta consider running a rebuttal review of our CD? If for no other reason than you could quote Griffin's review, and that would be funny?
> at any rate, i DID get your message but you didn't leave a phone number.
Sorry about that--from your long preparatory message to bands, labels and publicists, I figured you probably weren't going to return the call, though I would be delighted to talk further about Middle English and obscure New Wave bands...
However, we would of course still LOVE to see you at the Dottie's show this Friday. Shall you be our guest, or does your job bestow certain perks like free club admission? Really, it's our first show in Atlanta, and we're trying to draw a crowd however we can. Do tell if you're interested-- I'd hate to NOT talk to you if you were there.
Thanks,
Ned