And they love each other so...
May 8, 2015 8:18 PM   Subscribe

 
Has Joan Jett ever not looked and sounded awesome?
posted by wabbittwax at 8:33 PM on May 8, 2015 [12 favorites]


no
posted by feckless at 8:47 PM on May 8, 2015 [8 favorites]


yay! so glad to see miley bring back her backyard sessions - and for such a good cause (that is close to miley's heart). i really enjoyed miley and joan singing different as well.

not related to the foundation or the backyard sessions - this cover of michael mcdonald (and the cure) by laura jane grace has been stuck in my head in the best way.
posted by nadawi at 8:53 PM on May 8, 2015 [4 favorites]


oh more are out than i thought!

laura jane grace & miley sing true trans soul rebel
miley covering dido's no freedom
posted by nadawi at 8:58 PM on May 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


I smiled so much watching that cover! Thank you.
posted by maupuia at 8:58 PM on May 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


Grace and Jett... and Miley? Really? Is Miley Cyrus not awful now?

I don't mean that question to be as snarky as it sounds. Last I checked she was that troubled former Disney starlet who was grinding on Robin Thicke with her tongue lolling out like a crazy person. The glimpses I've seen of her since never made me think she was anything more than a sort of girl-Bieber, a former kiddie phenom who was trainwrecking her way into young adulthood. So, seeing her hold her own in an edgy and genuinely lovely clip like this is... surprising.

I never really looked into the Replacements. As a trans person and a fan of raw, genderbend-y rock, I feel genuinely ashamed of myself for never having heard this song before.

Joan Jett has looked pretty much the same for like 40 years. It's getting kind of scary. Does she have an old Runaways LP cover hidden away someplace where her face is melting, Dorian Gray-style?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:14 PM on May 8, 2015 [13 favorites]


Miley Cyrus is decidedly not awful now. She's got genuine talent and appreciation for her musical roots.

And even if she didn't have those things, calling her awful when this originates from her efforts supporting an important cause would be a pretty crass response.
posted by dry white toast at 9:22 PM on May 8, 2015 [11 favorites]


Grace and Jett... and Miley? Really? Is Miley Cyrus not awful now? The glimpses I've seen of her since never made me think she was anything more than a sort of girl-Bieber, a former kiddie phenom who was trainwrecking her way into young adulthood.

That seems to have all been part of a masterful media manipulation strategy! (Partly relying on the fact that a lot of commentator types were the right age to have been dragged to Hannah Montana concerts by their kids and therefore reacted with genuine abject horror.) This a capella version of "We Can't Stop" with The Roots and Jimmy Fallon is good too. She's actually turned out to be sort of interesting.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:23 PM on May 8, 2015 [6 favorites]


Eh, I dunno about female Bieber. She isn't perfect (she's a little culturally appropriative at times), but she hasn't egged anyone's house that I know of, and hasn't spit on her fans...she hasn't been arrested or otherwise legally troubled as far as I know. Near as I can see, she's a Disney kid everyone has wanted to see fail like they do all the Disney kids, and she's elected to essentially live with her middle finger out to that notion.

Anyway she did a Beatles tribute album with the Flaming Lips recently, what I heard of it was kind of cool. She has an interesting voice.
posted by angeline at 9:26 PM on May 8, 2015 [9 favorites]


miley is a weird case - there's certainly a story being told through the press and she's certainly played into it as it amuses her (also drugs. lots of drugs), but she's been doing interesting things for years - and honestly i think her antics covered up some surprising depth and talent on her last record (not all of it, but some, for sure). she even had interesting things to say about that whole robin thicke performance, about how she's purposefully playing with the idea of a creepy sexy baby - and as a disney star who had a "is she legal" countdown clock, it's an interesting thing for her to play with.

and sure, she's billy ray cyrus's kid - but don't forget, she's also dolly parton's goddaughter.
posted by nadawi at 9:27 PM on May 8, 2015 [11 favorites]


She's also kind of not committing to a gender, which feels a little like burying the lede here.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:30 PM on May 8, 2015 [8 favorites]


Dry white toast, I think you may be jumping on the wrong things in my question. I definitely wasn't saying she was awful in this clip, or even that she's been consistently awful since the infamous Teddy Bear Dry Hump incident. I was saying that old clip was the last significant exposure I'd had to her, and the little glimpses I'd gotten since then were mostly TMZ-esque stuff about her being a party girl. Based on that, I'd kind of dismissed her as a popstar-turned-trainwreck. Can you really blame me?

But I thought she was very good in this clip, and I was impressed by the company she was keeping and how well she fit in. I was genuinely asking if she'd been up to more interesting things than I'd been aware of.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:33 PM on May 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


she does a lot of drugs and is enjoying her wealth and youth - but i don't know that i'd consider her a party girl - i think there's that perception, for sure, but the thing to keep in mind is that sites like tmz make a loooooot of money on the teen girl breakdowns - they're always chasing the next one. miley doesn't fit the britney/lindsey sort of mold. as someone who follows her, i would say, yeah, you've maybe missed some stuff along the way, but that's to be expected - tmz makes far less money talking about her artistic messages and charitable contributions.
posted by nadawi at 9:42 PM on May 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


from Lyn Never's link, it seems she is genderqueer, or agender, feeling neither male or female - which is cool to have said out in public.
posted by jb at 9:57 PM on May 8, 2015


I was genuinely asking if she'd been up to more interesting things than I'd been aware of.

I don't follow her that closely, but I would say in the last year she seems to have turned her attention more to social issues (I mean, maybe before that in her own life, but publicly). She brought a teen experiencing homelessness to the VMAs late last year and gave him a platform to talk about the issue of youth homelessness, which I thought was pretty cool.

Other than the fact that it has a terrible website, I don't really know much about her new foundation and if it has really done much (which is why I didn't link to it in the post), and she's hardly Ani DeFranco or Pussy Riot yet, but it seems like she's genuinely trying to use her fame for some good, anyway, which is more than most 22-year-old megastars out there.

But even for those in here who hate Miley Cyrus -- perhaps for very good reasons -- I hope you can still appreciate what is cool about this video: three generations of women from three different genres recording a great cover of a song celebrating different gender identities and expressions (a song that is 31 years old, which is cool in and of itself).

On a different note, here is Joan Jett's 2006 cover, and the Crash Test Dummies' 1991 cover.
posted by retrograde at 10:21 PM on May 8, 2015 [7 favorites]


I think this is just great. That is all.
posted by TheCoug at 10:27 PM on May 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


I would point out that nobody except Miley and her dealer(s) actually know how many drugs she does versus how many drug references are in her recent songs. Or how much of a "party girl" she is versus references to same in songs.

I think it would be a mistake to write her off as a pop tart, given her current contexts. Listen and watch more closely.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:28 PM on May 8, 2015 [4 favorites]


'Surprisingly interesting' is the category I have Miley in, currently. Very now, very internet, very millennial — brash, party-positive, drug-positive, sex-positive; talented and authentic if also somewhat inscrutable.

We live in a cool time.
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:40 PM on May 8, 2015 [11 favorites]


I loved this. I have friends who are into Against Me! but I knew very little about Laura Jane Grace and my exposure to Miley stops at the Party in the USA song, so this was a very happy surprise to listen to.
posted by immlass at 10:58 PM on May 8, 2015


I never really looked into the Replacements. As a trans person and a fan of raw, genderbend-y rock, I feel genuinely ashamed of myself for never having heard this song before.
The good news, Ursula Hitler, is that there's a good chance you're going to quite enjoy discovering the Replacements' Let it Be. Seriously, go check it out -- you may be 31 years overdue in making its acquaintance but it's kept itself in surprisingly good shape during those years..
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:20 PM on May 8, 2015 [21 favorites]


I must admit something. Well into my 20s, I came across her "Best of Both Worlds" concert movie on TV and watched it for a lark. I went in expecting to just laugh at the whole "Hannah Montana" phenomenon for a few minutes and then move on with my life, but I couldn't help but respect her work ethic and raw performance talent. I found myself wanting to watch it again and again, and eventually I bought a copy. I think I've seen most episodes of the Hannah Montana show as well. It's true that the songs and tv show contained some fluff and are not really to my taste anymore, but at times the show was genuinely amusing and the songs genuinely empowering.

In retrospect I also think she broke from the Hannah Montana act at just the right time (she left it at the height of her fame and I remember people wondering why she didn't milk it for another year).
posted by mantecol at 11:46 PM on May 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


That was pretty great - thanks for posting it!
posted by rtha at 11:47 PM on May 8, 2015


Catchy as hell and a great thing to blast on a Friday night. Plus look how they're enjoying themselves!
posted by goofyfoot at 12:04 AM on May 9, 2015


"Androgynous" is my absolute favorite Replacements song; I'm very fond of it, and this is a fantastic and joyous cover.

One feels a bit ashamed of falling for the misogynist hate machine last time around when we were all supposed to despise Miley Cyrus. Maybe I should keep this in mind next time...
posted by koeselitz at 12:46 AM on May 9, 2015 [14 favorites]


Damn good cover.
posted by bjgeiger at 2:05 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm happy to have been on the Miley bandwagon for a long time. I suspect we'll soon be not having to have this conversation about her past every time her name comes up--her fascination with playing with gender isn't over and I'd guess she'll soon be exploring that even more, both artistically and personally.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:09 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


It's nice that she's doing this, and Laura Jane is always awesome, but Miley's taken pride in her cultural appropriation and is BFFs with Terry Richardson. That's enough to put me off, right there.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:15 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


I really wonder if there's not some more interesting angle on this than debating whether Miley Cyrus is morally and ideologically pure enough for us this week.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 5:47 AM on May 9, 2015 [31 favorites]


I loved this. Miley is young. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by josher71 at 6:29 AM on May 9, 2015 [4 favorites]


I have a feeling Miley's headed for a Taylor Swift moment, when the world at large suddenly realizes she's totally freaking awesome, and even though there have been plenty of clues (if you've been paying attention), it doesn't really square with the public's previous perception of her. Everybody will be extremely confused for a few weeks and then buy her new album. I look forward to it.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:29 AM on May 9, 2015 [14 favorites]


strangely stunted trees: "I really wonder if there's not some more interesting angle on this than debating whether Miley Cyrus is morally and ideologically pure enough for us this week."

Well, she's female, young and famous, so we're sort of obligated to second guess everything she says and does, accuse her of insincerity and scrutinize her sex life, no?
posted by signal at 6:35 AM on May 9, 2015 [11 favorites]


This song has always been a favorite of mine, but felt way over to one side of what the 'Mats usually played. Nice to see it getting some exposure to more listeners. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:41 AM on May 9, 2015


Well, she's female, young and famous, so we're sort of obligated to second guess everything she says and does, accuse her of insincerity and scrutinize her sex life, no?

To be fair, I think that bringing up people's past that might be troublesome knows no identity.
posted by josher71 at 6:55 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Not that anyone is obligated to be a fan of Cyrus, but I have to say, some of the criticisms of her come off as amazingly dismissive, as if they are looking for any possible excuse to pan her. I can't help but read some of the criticisms of her in Jebediah Atkinson's voice. "She once did a dance move that originally comes from black culture and she likes some people who I don't. NEXT!"
posted by The Gooch at 7:04 AM on May 9, 2015 [6 favorites]


To be fair, one should acknowledge that women's sexual past is treated much, much different than men's.
posted by clvrmnky at 7:06 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


To be fair, one should acknowledge that women's sexual past is treated much, much different than men's.

I'm not denying that, but calling out people on the internet seems to be a blanket deal.
posted by josher71 at 7:12 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Replacements have done a great job of being famous without actually becoming all that famous. This is the perfect example. It's a great song, with a nice arrangement and they all sound great (yes, even Miley). But you still get blank looks when you say it's by the Replacements.
posted by tommasz at 7:15 AM on May 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's so cute how some of you are putting words in my mouth and ascribing poor faith to my statement.

Look, there are plenty of People I Don't Like. If Miley was collaborating with, say, Chris Cornell or Klosterman or whoever, I'd recognize that I wasn't the target demo for that project and move on. The fact that she's chilling with a guy who has sexually assaulted numerous women grosses me out, especially given her identification as a feminist and a neo-riot grrrl. Likewise, her cultural appropriation isn't limited to twerking -- she's used racial slurs (dropped an N-bomb in a tweet), made gross comments about weaves, etc.

I think it's great that she's doing things like this, that she brought a homeless teen to an awards ceremony, makes large charitable donations, etc. That said, because of some of her earlier behavior, I have a hard time wanting to seek out her work or pay money for it.
posted by pxe2000 at 7:24 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh my god. I used to love this song and somehow it has been erased from my memory for decades. Being shown its existence again is like reaching into my coat pocket in the fall and finding a twenty from last year!
posted by sourwookie at 7:25 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


of everyone who hangs out with terry richardson (and the list is long and full of everyone's faves), i have the most empathy for young women in the industry.
posted by nadawi at 7:32 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Anyway she did a Beatles tribute album with the Flaming Lips recently

There's also that thing when she brought Wayne Coyne on stage in L.A. to perform "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" in front of a somewhat confused Bangerz audience. Twice. "I fucked some of that up. [...] Are you drunk right now!? [...] Ok, let's just do it one more time."

(and yeah, Coyne has his own issues but that song is pretty great, and definitely good enough to survive that treatment despite what some Lips' "fans" are ranting about in the YT comments :-)
posted by effbot at 7:33 AM on May 9, 2015


and the Crash Test Dummies' 1991 cover

Which was up until this post the only version I'd ever known! I was never really sure either way whether it was an original or a cover they'd done; it's enough up their alley lyrically that I never really got a bug up my butt about it, and so I've always just associated it with Brad Robert's basso rumbling.
posted by cortex at 7:47 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: I really wonder if there's not some more interesting angle on this than debating whether ____________ is morally and ideologically pure enough for us this week.

I've always had a soft spot for Miley. Party in the U.S.A. is such a fluff song, but I find it completely irresistible.
posted by echocollate at 8:51 AM on May 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


Great song. Great cover.
posted by gwint at 9:29 AM on May 9, 2015


This is pretty excellent, and they certainly look to be having a blast performing together.

I'm a crusty old middle aged queer chick, but I can only imagine the thrill of being young and queer and/or genderqueer and seeing this kind of genderqueer representation from Miley Cyrus after growing up with Hannah Montana.

Cyrus has skills, and I'm certainly hoping that if she's working through some identity issues and all that she can move on from a phase of being a drug-addled punchline and make some good art and really good pop culture.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:08 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Her two SNL performances that one night restored my confidence in her talent. I really like her. Miley's going to be okay.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 10:10 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


"I'm not denying that, but calling out people on the internet seems to be a blanket deal."

Except that's not what you said. You actually responded to someone pointing out an obvious place where gender matters, to say that gender doesn't matter.

You #notonlywomen'd the thread, even if you didn't intend so.
posted by clvrmnky at 10:26 AM on May 9, 2015 [2 favorites]


Miley Cyrus is 22. I do plenty of stupid stuff now and have more than a decade on her. Plus, my dad isn't Billy Ray Cyrus.

She's made some questionable choices and has some questionable friends (Richardson, Coyne), but I think she's a lot smarter than people give her credit for, and is pretty aware of what she's doing. If this is more the direction she's moving in, I'm happy for her. She seems to be doing what she wants to.

And I really can't wait for the inevitable angry album about her dad. You keep doing you, Miley.
posted by darksong at 11:12 AM on May 9, 2015 [7 favorites]


Except that's not what you said.

I thought my next statement, "I'm not denying that, but calling out people on the internet seems to be a blanket deal." clarified the first statement. I hereby undo #notonlywomen'ing the thread.
posted by josher71 at 1:15 PM on May 9, 2015


Is there a version of this unencumbered by the Book of Faces? Asking for a friend.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 1:52 PM on May 9, 2015


Some of us judge her on the quality of her singing, which is average. Her and Kanye are scorching the earth with mediocrity and collecting all the dimes.
posted by Brocktoon at 1:54 PM on May 9, 2015


Is there a version of this unencumbered by the Book of Faces? Asking for a friend.

Here you go! It was posted today to the Tube of You.
posted by Shmuel510 at 2:01 PM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Metafilter can you just shut up for a minute? I mean, I love you. But damn.
Not everything is black and white. Not everything exists on a binary, not everything is "us" and "them". Miley has done some uncool things that are actively contributing to a society that commodifies black stereotypes; a society that likes black culture but not black people. (But that' doesn't mean she's blanket awful!!) But she's also using her money and fame to do some real good in the world. (and that doesn't mean she's "okay" now, whatever that means. Can we stop ranking people as a monolith, please?)


In other news, this video make me hella happy. Laura Jane Grace is my favorite human. She has been so for a long time. Way back when (hushit, I know I'm a young'n), before I knew she was trans (or even what trans was), her queerness were evident in a lot of her lyrics, and they really spoke to me as a young queer. I used to cry to The Disco Before the Breakdown thinking about the day I'd have to tell my mom about my girlfriend. The way that Miley and Laura Jane Grace* look at each other, I just imagine them like, up late at night skyping about gender feels and whatnot. <333

*Ok so I haven't found a definitive source but is her name like, Laura Jane Grace? Or like, Laura Jane? Or .... how many of those is her first name????? This has been bugging me forever.
posted by FirstMateKate at 2:16 PM on May 9, 2015 [12 favorites]


Thanks, Shmuel510!
posted by HillbillyInBC at 2:21 PM on May 9, 2015


I like Miley Cyrus. She's been scrutinized by the media her entire life and even though she has some questionable friends and has said some questionable things, she's young and there are plenty of other people who have done much worse. I know I had some really questionable friends in my early 20's, but I wasn't a media darling for people on the Internet to analyze without knowing me or the details of my life.
posted by gucci mane at 3:19 PM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Agreed - I can really only see Miley Cyrus as a very young person with unusual privileges and unusual stressors, living under an entirely unique set of norms, in the presence of vested actors - agents, yes-people - folks with some interest in her being as shocking as possible. If that syncs up with her own impulse for self-expression, easy to see how things can go wonky. Seems like she's making an effort to determine herself, and to reach out beyond her own experience; all that's good.
posted by cotton dress sock at 3:24 PM on May 9, 2015


With all the discord going on here about appropriation and misogyny and I don't know what the heck else, I really hope nobody is including what I wrote in all that. Seriously, I was just a bit surprised to see something cool from somebody I was mostly familiar with from brief glimpses of Hannah Montana, the Robin Thicke thing, and seeing her on the cover of trashy gossip mags at the supermarket. That's it. I wasn't hatin' on the woman. Quite the reverse; she was surprising me in a good way.

(I'm not trying to make this all about me, but I've had some real scraps on Metafilter recently and perhaps it's made me a little paranoid.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:36 PM on May 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


That was fun. Thank you.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 7:39 PM on May 9, 2015


Awhile back, I dared to take a watch at a fan video of the opening routine of one of Miley's Bangerz tour shows. The overall effect (to me, anyway) was of a teenage girl's bedroom on acid. I think it was the dancing furries that pushed me in that direction. That and the tongue slide extending down from the giant Miley face that she slid down. Honestly...I loved it.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:19 AM on May 10, 2015


I don't know much about Miley Cyrus but I was pretty impressed at her intuition. A lot of time, lead singers can harmonize but they still think they're singing lead, and for True Trans Soul Rebel and Androgynous, she added nice touches - subtle but powerful.

Plus I'm totally down with those Beetlejuice/Razzle Dazzle Camo pants.
posted by entropone at 2:09 PM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


I heard Against Me on the NPR show, Sound Opinions, just this weekend. Terrific. They played Unconditional Love on the show. Love it.
posted by zerobyproxy at 5:53 AM on May 11, 2015


Is this lip synched? It's odd how it sounds like it's in a studio but they're standing outside.

P.S. I am on Team Miley if we're making lists. Or playing softball.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:18 AM on May 11, 2015


Close-micing + good mic discipline + a good live engineer can get you a pretty darned good clean live sound, basically. Plus, playing outdoors and at moderate volume, you don't get a giant wanging hellscape of bar wall/ceiling reverberation bleeding back into everything.
posted by cortex at 8:31 AM on May 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


« Older The Desert Blues   |   The Magic of Modern Living Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments