Fuck the Human Race

August 12, 2006... Every week is tough when you're pushing forty and single. But this week was tougher than most, with people all around me shacking up together, celebrating anniversaries and getting pregnant. Still, I'm holding up fairly well, so any imagined connection between my middle-aged-single-guy angst and the focus of the rest of this post is just that--imagined. This post's been sitting in the chamber for weeks, just waiting for me to pull the trigger on it

Hmm, something about the symbolism in that last sentence haunts me. I can't quite put my finger on it, though...

Judging from the photos of the band on their self-titled 1983 debut LP, Nihilistics were the sort of fellahs my gay, Jewish ass would rather not meet in a dark alley, particularly if my ass was actually gay and Jewish.

Their music was ugly, too. They made no nods in the direction of melody, harmony or anything else you'd find trailer trash named after.

And their lyrics were even uglier. As the reviewer at Trouser Press put it, "People hate hardcore precisely for stuff like this."

Nihilistics - My Creed

But there's something about the way the guitarist played... I'm not sure how he did it, but somehow he managed to sound slightly dissonant at all times. It's probably just incompetence. My guess is that he was stifling a sneeze at every fret with a one-fingered barre chord. But that's just a guess.

And dude's right on top of his game in "My Creed." The open chords he lets ring over the song's pokey beat sound like the lid being slammed down on a grand piano with your lame-ass head inside it. And in case you're wondering, that's a good thing.

Nihilistics - Welfare for the Rich

Just imagine: rich people arranging it so that their rich cronies get richer! What a ludicrous idea! What daydreamers these young fellahs from Long Island must have been!

Nihilistics are still around, although the current version of the band seems only to feature the vocalist and drummer from the version of the band that recorded the debut LP. Frankly, I've never heard a lick of work they've done since 1983, and never really wanted to, either. But, if you're innerested, CD versions of their releases are available here.

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