Word to that. Keep on reading. We love to haggle over here.

Kevin

I do know them (Justin 1, Emily 0). And I can tell you, once again, revolver truly has little to do with violence — even inner violence — besides the physical words themselves.

I do know their music. And, though I don’t agree with you one hundred percent, remember, I didn’t rebut what you said.

And of course I hyper-dwelled on the negative. I’m a loyal fan who truly loves this band regardless of whether or not I know them. Typically, I — and many people, I think — respond to a review when there are statements with which I disagree. Very rarely will I rush to respond to a review that I love.

And yes my “that is art” statement was a little fluffy. But giving me your take on art — as if mine was limited to the one statement that I wrote — was straight up trippin.

But I do know what you’re saying. I went in reading with the mindset of “this is negative” and collected all that negativity and then some. Next time I’ll be a more responsible reader.

Emily

As for your comment, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you know someone in that band. Here’s why: you ignored all the positive stuff I said and hyper-dwelled on the negative. You also rushed to defend these guys in a way that makes it somewhat clear you don’t really know their music well.

I’ll grant you a couple points. First, you are right that these guys are young and in transition. I acknowledged as much in the review and said that as they mature as songwriters and individuals we have much more to look forward to as listeners. Second, “to write about what you know, how you feel, what you want to experience … that is art”. Well, yeah. Duh. Actually, that’s a kind of art, but art as an abstract concept is far more wide-ranging than even your definition. But we aren’t arguing about what is and what isn’t art. We are debating the merits of my original review and your response.

While I agree with you on those counts, I disagree with you on others. Regarding the Replacements reference, have you listened to Art Brut’s “The Replacements”? If not, you should, because (a) it is a killer tune and (b) you’ll immediately understand why I referred to that track as more humble than the Static Jacks song. Art Brut’s version has the narrator admitting how little he knows in that particular instance, while the Static Jacks version is putting the lack of knowledge on the third-person party-goers.

As for your connotation that “Revolver” has no connection to violence, well, I have the lyrics sheet right in front of me. How about this one:”My gun is grinning”? That line begins the song’s chorus, and while it is followed up by “but you’re a shot that I can’t fire” – which isn’t exactly a threat – it is also accompanied by lyrics about not being able to deal with life anymore and “there ain’t nothing here except the tick tick tock.” Maybe the violence being referenced would be turned inward in the hypothetical narrative, rather than outward. Who knows? Point is, these guys were the ones who chose to write a song about frustration and pair it with metaphors about weapons. How is that not violent?

Finally, your initial point that the review was an ad hominem attack is flawed. I don’t know these fellas, beyond brief email correspondence with one person in the band soliciting our coverage, but they seem like decent enough guys. And I’m certainly not the one who called them “kids” – that was you. And I didn’t cast aspersions on them in any sort of personal way – I just said that as their music matures, which it needs to do, we’ll have something to look forward to. Remember the part where I said they have plenty of time to build on their strengths as they work out their weaknesses? I mean, these guys aren’t the Beatles – they didn’t hit it out of the park their first time at the plate, and they probably won’t their second time either. But down the road, they might, which is why I wrote about them in the first place. If it was garbage, it never would’ve made the website.

These are young adults who are in the biggest transition period of their lives. Love, parties, anxiety, alienation and vulnerability is what they know (and I can promise you that “Revolver” has utterly no connection to violence except for the physical word “revolver”).

To write about what you know, how you feel, what you want to experience … that is art. To pretend that you’re not upset about the brother you’ve been, or to pretend that you don’t have “silly” sexual desires (Since when have sexual desires become silly? Is it not sexual desire that has driven countless artist?) is to be untruthful. Bullshit hasn’t gotten anyone anywhere. I’d rather seem “silly” to “Citizen Dick” than to pretend to be something I’m not.

And, after “dropping” ONE name — which may or may not actually be a reference to “The Replacements” — I think it’s wrong to assume a group of five individuals is proud (or anything less than humble).