There are some bands that have existed in the past, who truly are the musical embodiment of punk-rock music. The kind of stuff that offends you at first, it sounds very raw and un-rehearsed, like they made it all up during a one night stand at a local bar when drunk one night. However trashy and in your face real good punk music always finds a way to seduce your ears and eventually your rocking to all the songs and just overflowing with rebellious, angsty thoughts. That goes for most of it, though. Some bands tried and failed, but were actually placed upon quite a high pedestal as forgers of the path that led to the title of Punk Rock. This generic anti-pop drivel was nothing music had not seen before, and everything that was new. I mean, you've all heard boring songs, you know what its like to have to sit through something like that. But this crap was the sound of revolution, the noise of the new sound, the sound of the new noise. The aftermath this brought upon the music world was one that has never been and will likely never be changed. So lets take a trip back and discover one of these albums, while not thought of by many, those who do think of it have fallen deeply in love. Although I have not.
In all honesty, this is a very poor effort. The album's own title pretty much sums it all up, not opening anything from the hallway of the norm. But as said beforehand this had never been heard...so perhaps in the early eighties this would have been thought of as something to follow. Maybe thousands of punk-rockers raised their flag behind the cover of
Generic and hoped for a progressive and anarchist-ridden future. So now we come to the year 2006, and
Generic will be looked at from a modern standpoint. Let me tell you, this is the ballad of a fallen soldier. Its the helpless cry that lone punk made when driven to the ground in the battle against the Billboard Charts.
Before you get the completely wrong idea about
Generic, you would benefit from a brief explanation of its true meaning. Whilst being a horrificly awful musical presentation, thats apparently exactly what 'Flipper' were aiming for. Their ideals of "not giving a flying f***" and not caring about seemingly anything were the cause for riot amongst the punk community. This is actually more of a concept album when thought of right. A punk concept?
The punk concept. Whats this have to do with the actual music? Is it supposed to make it better? Well, not really. Actually not at all. Your not going to enjoy it any more if you think of it from that point of view. But remember that its not music as much as it should be ideals. More of a message, this is, just recorded in album form. Like a suicide note read aloud, or a narration of a specific important book.
From the jumpy 'Ever' to the lengthy grungey 'Sex Bomb', this album delivers raw punk rock in its infancy. Like its soon to be upholders of the flame, Nirvana, Flipper produces whatever pops into their head at the time of recording/rehearsing. A crappy jam session probably resulted in this album.
Unlike Nirvana, however, Flipper's music is more rubbish. There really are no choruses to be recognized, no breakthrough riffs or catchy hooks (in the majority of the songs, at least). Alot of it makes you feel like a long trudge-fest through a flat deserted plain with nothing to do or think about. Almost like the band wanted their music to sound like hell. Alot of the songs, namely 'Life Is Cheap' and 'Shed No Tears' combine a bad formula that explodes and ends up dripping down the wall to its imminent death. Unfortunately you won't be able to clean this up, and trying to let it grow on you will likely end in failure. Of course this is not an awful effort, just a slightly abysmal one. Flipper is more than capable of making great songs and they knew it, just didn't care enough to put pride into their work. Redeemable sides of the album include the three musketeers of
Generic, 'Ever', 'Sex Bomb', and 'Living For The Depression'. All of those display an obvious amount of talent and potential not showcased to its fullest on here. Those tracks are the blowing up in your face, fast-paced punk belches. They still pertain to the trashy garage theme of the rest of the album but round it out nicely to make it listenable, and even
danceable. Which is imperitive at live shows, which is no doubt where this band really shined.
This album is nothing other than punk-rock. Its the only genre that can hold in such a travesty and call it their own, while feeding it and selling it to be distributed on the low throughout underground punk circles across the states, and the rest of the world alike.
Generic by Flipper is not something that you just let grow on you, or live and learn with it. Its a message for the now. They wanted their fans and bashers both to realize that the band themselves couldn't care any less about their work then they already do, and apparently only do it for attention and mockery of the actual industry. It goes without saying, this is one of the most obvious messages you'll extract from the record. Just remember boys and girls, if you want a solid punk record that'll change your entire outlook on the mainstream try to avoid this. If you'd like something loose and laid back that should shift your view on
music in general from formulaic to 'anything goes, everything will',
buy this immediately. Despite its rarity it will turn out as a reward to yourself.
All in all, this is terrible, watery, simplistic, lazy 'music'. But who the hell cares? Flipper sure doesn't.
Credits:
Bass/Vocals: Bruce Loose
Guitar: Ted Falconi
Bass/Vocals: Will Shatter
Drums/Vocals: Steve DePace
