I’ve been into Fugazi since I was around 12 or 13 years old. I credit Jawbreaker as one of my favourite bands of all time, ever.
I like Queer Black Flag cover bands, Love And Rockets, and Nothing Nice To Say. I support my local and global scene, I buy records from, and food for, my favourite artists.
I make my own band shirts.
And then, there’s Simple Plan.
A band who single handedly somehow manage to undo all my good work, revoke my hxc punx license, and cause my girlfriend to shake her head at me in despair.
And I don’t quite understand why. Sure, Pierre Bouvier isn’t getting any less whiny any time soon, and god forbid they might be on a major label, but they seem like good boys, and a lot of good work goes down in their name (for instance, the Simple Plan Foundation, a charitable organisation those pesky kids set up all by themselves). I admit when I was younger I probably would have been more quick to judge and call them filthy MTV sellouts, but under closer inspection, much like any other band they have worked hard to get to where they are today. Maybe it’s because so many customers at work seem to think I’m Canadien. (Incidentally, I’m still wondering if I can petition for citizenship with these figures.)
I’m going to go out and say it: I really like this band, they shall not be my guilty pleasure! My respect and appreciation is honest; in a culture where you can’t seem to escape elitism, you don’t go slinging love around for a band like Simple Plan to make yourself cooler. They’re too mainstream for hipster audiophiles to respect, but not pop culture enough for hipster audiophiles to fawn over in an ironic fashion. So, here and now, I’m standing up in my (100% cotton, hand screened, conscienciously produced, might I add) Role Model Co. t-shirt (tailored to fit, because their sizes are far too generous, or Canadiens are all just huge) and saying, hell yeah, I love Simple Plan. I love Simple Plan, and contrary to common belief, this does not negate my love for any other band I hold even dearer to my heart.
And granted, a multi-million selling, internationally acclaimed pop band doesn’t need my support or defence, but not taking it lying down probably puts in an appeal for my punx licence.
sfx.
PS. Some further listening, for those willing to put their licences on the line:
~Sébastien and Patrick’s Man of the Hour Hour, hosted by Sébastien Lefebvre and Patrick Langlois of PS, a regular hour-or-so long podcast made up of inane chatter with French accents and a pleasant mix of music from established and up-and-coming bands. (A while ago, Pat was bitching about how Joey Cape’s project Afterburner didn’t have enough listeners on MySpace, which pretty much set my love for him in stone.)