Andrew W.K.: love him, hate him, love to hate him, hate to love him?

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Im so very torn on Mr. W.K. I feel the same way about him that I do about retards: they're human trainwrecks, but how can you hate them? It's impossable. His music is amazingly stupid, it's basically 80s pop-metal, and I dont think he's smart enough for it to be ironic (see him on Politically Incorrect?). On the other hand, he's always so darned happy and energetic, how could you hate him?

― David Allen, Saturday, 19 October 2002 01:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Mostly harmless.

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 19 October 2002 02:01 (twenty-three years ago)

He was on P.I. before it went under in August? Please, I'm very curious to know what sort of x-treme insights he brought to the table.

― Famous Athlete, Saturday, 19 October 2002 02:18 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, i can't muster that strong a reaction either way. i do find it disheartening that people just aren't willing to take him at face value no matter what...they just seem to instantly assume there's an ironic wink involved, although i've yet to see any evidence of one.

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 19 October 2002 02:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Everything I can think of to say about AWK, aside from his great initials, is summed up by the fact that the first several dozen times I saw whatever commercial it is that uses his song, I didn't realize the song was anything other than something done for the ad -- on the same musical plane as McDonald's jingles and the theme to All My Children.

So, I don't dislike him, I just keep failing to notice him somehow :)

― Tep (ktepi), Saturday, 19 October 2002 03:08 (twenty-three years ago)

So near and yet so far.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 03:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Is that his music on the ads for that Jackass movie?

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 19 October 2002 03:12 (twenty-three years ago)

yup. the video for 'we want fun' is all jackass skateboarding shenanigans.

― brian badword (badwords), Saturday, 19 October 2002 03:27 (twenty-three years ago)

He actually sounds like 80s pop metal if it was described to max martin by a ten year old who had seen a vh1 special on it and he tried to recreate it.

needless to say, this is a good thing.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 19 October 2002 03:55 (twenty-three years ago)

BAH.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 04:09 (twenty-three years ago)

More like the other way around.bb

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 19 October 2002 04:20 (twenty-three years ago)

ignore 'bb'... trackpoint dying

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 19 October 2002 04:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I've only heard, hmm, four songs but I quite like three of them. What's to get or not get about this guy? Maybe I'm naive but I think he is sincere and it's just a load of hipsters who assume that because he is being marketed to them, AWK must therefore be ironic. I mean, "We Want Fun." Who doesn't want fun?? (except, I guess, like, company flow.)

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Saturday, 19 October 2002 05:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I really wish 80s pop metal did sound like him! I think he's fantastic, he's about the only 'rock' I'm bothered with at the moment - such a colossal, simple sound.

― Tom (Groke), Saturday, 19 October 2002 08:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Who doesn't want fun??

Well, not his brand, see. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 11:41 (twenty-three years ago)

pantera is so much funner. plus they dont wear calculator watches.

― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 19 October 2002 12:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Have you even heard 80s pop metal? That's like saying that the Jesus and Mary Chain was basically a 50s surf group. (Unless you want to refer me to the songs where Andrew WK sings in a Sebastian Bach or Tom Keifer register, plays wailing guitar solos, uses post-Zep/AC/DC blues progressions, or performs a single ballad. Or if you can suggest the Warrant or Winger songs with barked vocals, that dense a guitar texture, hyper cut-time beats, and toy keyboard melodies.). Sterling and Tom come nearer the mark. Like the giddiest chorus of the stompiest glam anthem left too long in the sun, fried, and melded back together, then pumped to a ridiculous size, and coated in shiny plastic, and then mass produced under the brand name Euphoria. As eaten on TV by the Cookie Monster. As innovative as the Sex Pistols or MBV AFAIC.

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 19 October 2002 15:46 (twenty-three years ago)

As innovative as the Sex Pistols or MBV AFAIC.

*phew* I won't bothering arguing the point, but there's absolutely no way I could ever have even thought of the latter comparison!

Though keeping in mind a Tom comment elsewhere -- I forget the thread -- there seems to be an air of 'bah, why don't you people who claim to like rock do it like THIS?' But wouldn't that be the equivalent of the Limp Bizkit/Linkin Park fan brigade saying "Why don't you people do hip-hop this way all the time!" Andrew WK as pop figure: fine, whatever, we've argued the point. Andrew WK as flashpoint of sole pop salvation for loud guitars, that I have a very hard time swallowing -- especially since he seems to have become a cult act again.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 15:56 (twenty-three years ago)

When wasn't he a cult act, Ned? Maybe that one weekend he performed on SNL, or the short bursts broadcast each day into family living rooms whenever a Coors or Target commercial comes on.

Hell, even the Dead had a Top 40 hit in the 80's.

― paul cox (paul cox), Saturday, 19 October 2002 16:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey I like lots of poppy stuff with loud guitars. I never said AWK was the lone salvation or that he was more than a cult act with one album to his name.

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 19 October 2002 16:13 (twenty-three years ago)

ned, do you hate fun??

― jess (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 19 October 2002 16:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Like MBV he gives the standard pop song form a new sound (to my ears) rooted in a dense production texture and an original way of mixing ultra-processed electric guitars and synths. It's not a point I care to defend much further though.

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 19 October 2002 16:17 (twenty-three years ago)

When wasn't he a cult act, Ned? Maybe that one weekend he performed on SNL, or the short bursts broadcast each day into family living rooms whenever a Coors or Target commercial comes on.

Hey, 15 minutes more fame than most. ;-)

I never said AWK was the lone salvation or that he was more than a cult act with one album to his name.

Fair enough. But this whole year has felt like a battle against an overarching perception (doubtless horribly skewed in my head) that not liking him is somehow tantamount to not liking music or having fun -- something with which I must regretfully not concur. ;-)

In any event, the Metal Sludge crew were up to having some fun with him recently...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 16:18 (twenty-three years ago)

ned, do you hate fun??

Actually, I hate it when people are having fun without me.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 16:20 (twenty-three years ago)

sundar subramanian talks way too much like a record exec for my liking.

― David Allen, Saturday, 19 October 2002 18:27 (twenty-three years ago)

They don't train record execs to avoid run-on sentences?

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 19 October 2002 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

you talk way too much like a Punk Rocker for my liking.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 19 October 2002 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Record execs probably don't giggle as much as Sundar either!

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 19 October 2002 18:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Hurrah for Sundar! He is no record exec, but a Good Person who likes his music, and that is what matters. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 18:52 (twenty-three years ago)

the only time I heard andrew WK was in canada. my roomate got a TV and I think i arrived back from uni quite late. I got the ice cream, switched on the telly and there he was and it was good. It made me laugh it was soooo...indeed the riff to whatever song it was FLOORED me and i don't think i have EVAH recovered from this. its like no other music that was made before or since (the BRANE has been rewired, the ear reprogrammed) and it doesn't matter whether he comes up with another record or not...his place in the history books (in the 'canon' indeed!!) is assured that's for sure.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 19 October 2002 19:29 (twenty-three years ago)

its like no other music that was made before or since (the BRANE has been rewired, the ear reprogrammed)

I really want to sympathize with this, I admit, since -- and Sundar will appreciate this ;-) -- it's exactly how I felt when I first heard "Soon." But the thing is, every time I try and think of "Party Hard" I end up thinking of "Photograph" by Def Leppard, and while I'm hardly claiming it's an exact equivalent, the specific combination of big production, shoutalong singing, monster riff and loadsa synths is there. Where Andrew WK goes wrong for me is trying all that and NOT coming up with a memorable song, specifically a memorable monster riff and chorus. And it can't be an age or experience thing here, Tom's just a little younger than me, after all.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 19:46 (twenty-three years ago)

''I really want to sympathize with this, I admit, since -- and Sundar will appreciate this ;-) -- it's exactly how I felt when I first heard "Soon."''

HA HA HA you fell into it! its why i put that comment in (becuz you made that arg for 'soon').

I luv 'soon' and MBV far more than Andrew WK (though I'm not into it as much as you Ned).

but i did like it what i heard and saw on the telly actually. its not bad (never heard def leppard: but if they are like that then its not a bad thing at all, def leppard are OK dude!!!).

now where's my beer.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 19 October 2002 20:06 (twenty-three years ago)

its why i put that comment in (becuz you made that arg for 'soon')

You are a clever man, sir. ;-)

never heard def leppard: but if they are like that then its not a bad thing at all

It's far from the exact same thing, you'll have to decide on your own there. But I always like what Phil Oakey said about his fellow Sheffield band: "Def Leppard use just as much keyboards as we do."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

WK is the only "rock" act post-Turbonegro that I give more than half a shit about. I'm not saying he's the only good one, but he's the only one that's made me care one way or the other.

― Kris (aqueduct), Saturday, 19 October 2002 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

AWK is HUGE in Canada. Maybe he just goes hand-in-hand with hockey. But the man did a followup Canadian only tour after his earlier North American tour. I've seen quite a few AWK t-shirts today (in Victoria).

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 20 October 2002 01:24 (twenty-three years ago)

This guy is pure trailerpark rock, although not as all encompassing as Kid Rock, which completely reaches most parts of the male adolescent white trash psyche.

AWK seems much closer to Twisted Sister than Ratt.

His music is way too silly and he doesn't either have a midget sidekick or a guitarist named Dimebag Darrell, so the kitch factor isn't very high for me.

― earlnash, Sunday, 20 October 2002 20:35 (twenty-three years ago)

only the canadians in vancouver smoke enough weed to be able to stand that dirty excuse for music. and david, comparing him to retards isn't very fair to the 'tards.

― dyson (dyson), Sunday, 20 October 2002 21:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I agree with Sundar about the sound/textures. It's a super-saturated production which is really missing from most indie-bands. Actually, I think the sound and melodies remind me of the Jesus and Mary Chain too. I think it would all sound great with laconic Jim Reid vocals.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 20 October 2002 23:29 (twenty-three years ago)

That would make it sound the worst thing ever! (Well OK no but not as good). The gruntcore vocals are great! Some bastard has nicked my copy of I Get Wet so I'm forced to put on King Crimson instead.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 21 October 2002 10:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Andrew WK discussions on FT/ILX amuse me no end since I've never heard a note by him to the best of my knowledge.

― Jeff W (Jeff W), Monday, 21 October 2002 10:20 (twenty-three years ago)

The best thing about AWK is that someone is finally making rock for dance music fans. I think it's all about me getting my own back on people who put on "Leftism" at parties when asked for some dance...

― Jacob, Monday, 21 October 2002 14:08 (twenty-three years ago)

The best thing about AWK is that someone is finally making rock for dance music fans.

is that what he's doing? that must be why i think he's ace.

― michael wells (michael w.), Monday, 21 October 2002 14:19 (twenty-three years ago)

This guy is pure trailerpark rock...

Well, that might be true if he was actually from a trailer park...

Best thing AWK has done: covering a Couch song. More noteriety for Bulb Records artists, please!

― hstencil, Monday, 21 October 2002 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

i love andrew wk

― gygax! (gygax!), Sunday, 16 May 2004 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

GYGAX! LISTEN TO THIS!!!

― Be sure to Loop! Loop, Loop, Loop. (ex machina), Thursday, 20 May 2004 18:01 (twenty-two years ago)

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