Talking About Some ATDI

 

This is a conversation that stemmed from a comment I made on FB. Nothing particularly revelatory, but I've been thinking about the band At The Drive-In a lot lately. This is just an interesting exchange. I'm planning to write more about ATDI in the near future, as it relates to one of the songs from the Hosey album V II. I've abbreviated my friends names, to protect identities.

Patrik Phalen  Are we past that "too school for cool" point where we--especially those of us from the South--where we can all openly admit how absolutely bad ass At the Drive-In was? This may get my hipster license revoked, but I'll take ATDI over Sleigh Bells, Of Montreal, Pavement, and [fill in current Stereogum cream-fest here] any day of the week.
            --September 28 at 9:51pm

GB: ATDI will always be classic! But Sleigh Bells & Of Montreal are awesome as well(in my opinion) but then again I love Roy Orbison!
            --September 28 at 9:52pm

AJ: Preach on, Brother Trick! I'm 100% with you on this one.
            --September 28 at 9:53pm

Patrik Phalen Hey, I love LOVE Pavement as well. I'm just tired of pretending that ATDI wasn't awesome. It's like some unwritten thing where people won't admit how much they enjoyed the band.
            --September 28 at 9:54pm

Patrik Phalen I remember my first day working at a record store in NYC when I mentioned that I dug ATDI. EVERY employee gave me the evil eye. ("He's so emo!") except for one. Me and that one employee are still friends.
            --September 28 at 9:55pm

GB: Goddamn, we are all a bunch of pretentious bastards! haha. ATDI will always be incredible.
            --September 28 at 9:59pm

Patrik Phalen I'll honestly admit this now: ATDI was the real reason I started getting into turntables. I really thought there was nothing I could contribute to music with a guitar after ATDI. They seemed to shut the book on angry, young, guitar freak out music.
            --September 28 at 10:05pm

GB: ATDI is the reason I started growing an afro & dancing ;)
            --September 28 at 10:08pm

RL: Hmmm.... I have always assumed everyone loved them. I can't imagine someone reacting negatively to "at the drive in is awesome!"
            --September 28 at 10:14pm

DD: That one employee was me right?!?! If it wasn't me then I must've had that day off. I had no idea all the kimsters were anti ATDI. At The Drive-In fucking rocked like no one else.
            --September 28 at 10:14pm

Patrik Phalen Yes! Twas you, D-Stone!
            --September 28 at 10:16pm

DD: It's all a facade.
            --September 28 at 10:16pm

DD: I'm singing it's all a facade just for you.....nothing here is actually a facade of anything.... Just to clarify
            --September 28 at 10:17pm

Patrik Phalen @RL and @DD: You know how hipster-types are. ATDI was way too earnest and honest emotionally. They really wore their hearts on their sleeves and took themselves seriously in an un-ironic way. Some people *hate* that.
            --September 28 at 10:18pm

Patrik Phalen @DD: I remember when I played Acrobatic Tenement at the store and you were like, "I love this album!" I'm playing the album now, as a matter of fact.
            --September 28 at 10:20pm

DD: Yay! I'm playing it now too. We rock!
            --September 28 at 10:21pm

Patrik Phalen Also, to clarify: I don't think people are particularly anti-ATDI. It's more like they won't admit that they were really into them at one point. The exact same thing seemed to happen with Nirvana in the late 90s. It was just some unspoken r...ule that it wasn't "cool" to be into Nirvana. I feel like the same sort of thing has happened to ATDI. The truth is: most kids who were into music at the turn of the century were loving it. Now it's cooler to say you were into Trail of Dead (who also rocks), but that kind of seems like re-written history.See More
            --September 28 at 10:27pm

DD: Oh and also, I totally forgot you played that your first day. I think thats why I instantly liked you...well, that and your hair of course. ATDI...what a great way to start a friendship.
            --September 28 at 10:27pm

Patrik Phalen Or that you were into Ween, and Silkworm, and Neutral Milk Hotel. But I didn't actually know anyone back then who was really into those bands.
            --September 28 at 10:28pm

Patrik Phalen @DD: What a great band. It's been 10 years since they broke up. I guess that's why they're on my mind. I feel so old! They captured my youth so perfectly!
            --September 28 at 10:29pm

Patrik Phalen Oh! One of my favorite lyrics of all time: "I'm kicking in windows / It makes music to me"
            --September 28 at 10:38pm

MW: i didn't know it wasn't cool to like them... but i am most definitely not cool
            --September 29 at 5:18am

Patrik Phalen: But saying that you're not cool only makes you cooler!

Maybe I'm just surrounded by too many soft, arty people who really didn't get into music until they moved to Brooklyn after college, so they have disdain for anything that's not tongue-in-cheek and half-assed. Maybe ATDI fans have some sort of "emo" stench to them (although ATDI wasn't emo, and emo music wasn't bad either)

            I'd be interested to know how regional the taste is. Also, I wonder what younger kids think of ATDI; people who are 21 or so now.See More
            --September 29 at 9:14am

Patrik Phalen I was actually hanging out with a confessed ex-goth kid from California last night, a woman who is 31 now (2 years older than me) and she had never even heard of the band. That *really* surprised me. So who knows? It's all relative. I suppose in some places it would still be really "edgy" to be into ATDI.
            --September 29 at 9:18am

DD: It was definitely edgy where I was. I only knew one guy who knew of them and he was kinda edgy, emo, and wannabe-punk...yes, all 3. No one else knew who they were and whenever I drove around blasting ATDI in my car, I got a lot of crazy looks. Maybe I just didn't know enough of the cool kids.....or, the uncool kids.
            --September 29 at 11:40am

CJ: Craig Jenkins Sleigh Bells 4 life!
            --September 29 at 7:07pm

Patrik Phalen Sleigh Bells is cool. Not as cool as ATDI was, of course. It's weird now that I think about it; ATDI was post-hardcore, while Sleigh Bells features a guitarist who used to be hardcore. Funny because that's a different kind of "post"-hardcore.

            Maybe I'm just bitter about Sleigh Bells because they're all guitars and beats, and I think of that as *my* turf. "Get off my lawn you noisy kids!"

            They ain't street as Hosey, though. Where the tables at, son?See More
            --September 29 at 8:08pm

Patrik Phalen @DD: It's hard for me to tell what was "edgy" where I was. I had so many cool friends--like, actual really great awesome friends; my favorite people in the world--who were into so many great "unknown" bands that it made me look like a mainstream poser. So, sometimes I forget that what I think is typical is actually pretty crazy stuff. For instance, a lot of people I knew were into Mr. Bungle, Converge, Melt Banana, etc, so much so that I think of those bands as somewhat mainstream now. How crazy is that?
            --September 29 at 8:19pm

DD: Yeeeeah, I don't know any of those bands...though I'm totally going to download them in 5 minutes. Lucky you with your awesome friends, and your awesome musical awareness. Everyone I knew only knew bands from the radio. What I failed to mention earlier is that I actually felt extremely cool when I drove down the road listening to ATDI at max volume. I was that outcast girl that thrived on those are-you-crazy looks :)
            --September 29 at 8:34pm

Patrik Phalen @DD: I want to say more, but I'm in the middle of practice. But, before you go looking for albums and have no idea where to start, here are suggestions: Mr Bungle = "Disco Volante" or their self-titled album; Converge = "Jane Doe"; Melt Banana...????.. I don't really know where to begin, in any sense of the word. Prepare yourself, it's very very weird/strange heavy music. It's not the kind of band I would really suggest to anyone, but who knows?, maybe you'll love it.
            --September 29 at 8:56pm

Patrik Phalen ^^^ Oh! I should point this out: ALL of these bands are incredibly weird. I wouldn't expect anyone to like them, nor would I think badly of someone who hated the stuff. It's pretty abrasive.

            Mr. Bungle is great, though. You should really gi...ve them a chance. It's a Mike Patton band! Maybe his first? You know how he is. He's always in a million bands at once.See More
            --September 29 at 8:59pm

CJ: Converge is awesome. I wish I never heard them before just so I could hear em again for the first time. (Freaks & Geeks, anyone?)
            --September 29 at 9:35pm

Patrik Phalen FREEAKS AND GEEEEEKS!!!! YES!!! You know what's awful: I only just saw that show for the first time 3 or 4 months ago! How the hell did I miss this? Thank you to Ms. Amy Franklin for finally turning me on to it.

            --September 30 at 11:46pm