The Vibes They Are a-Changin'
February 16, 2022 11:15 AM Subscribe
A Vibe Shift Is Coming. Will any of us survive it? "A vibe shift is the catchy but sort of too-cool term Monahan uses for a relatively simple idea: In the culture, sometimes things change, and a once-dominant social wavelength starts to feel dated. Monahan, who is 35, breaks down the three vibe shifts he has survived and observed: Hipster/Indie Music (ca. 2003–9), or peak Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, high-waisted Cheap Mondays, Williamsburg, bespoke-cocktail bars; Post-Internet/Techno Revival (ca. 2010–16), or the Blood Orange era, normcore, dressing like The Matrix, Kinfolk the club, not Kinfolk the magazine; and Hypebeast/Woke (ca. 2016–20), or Drake at his Drakest, the Nike SNKRS app, sneaker flipping, virtue signaling, Donald Trump, protests not brunch."
Age is going to come as a shock to these folks. And yeah, nobody survives that...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:34 AM on February 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:34 AM on February 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON - CENTRAL HOLD AREA
BEN
I felt a great vibe shift ... as if millions of normcore hypebeasts suddenly got FOMO.
posted by credulous at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2022 [81 favorites]
BEN
I felt a great vibe shift ... as if millions of normcore hypebeasts suddenly got FOMO.
posted by credulous at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2022 [81 favorites]
None of you will survive. Do you not understand how aging works? If you don’t get off the merry-go-round at some point you become a creepy, pathetic old vibester.
posted by rikschell at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2022 [45 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2022 [45 favorites]
Bushwick, Brooklyn, 2022: people are still dressing like the matrix
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:37 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:37 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
The new vibe is going to be super-low key post-punk funk with queasy synths and horns that reminds you of Wilder by The Teardrop Explodes. Just listen to Pompeii by Cate Le Bon and probably the next Destroyer album whenever it comes out.
posted by snofoam at 11:38 AM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 11:38 AM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Also NY Mag has a monthly limit — if you've hit it, open the article in an incognito tab to read.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:38 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:38 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
"normcore, dressing like The Matrix, Kinfolk the club, not Kinfolk the magazine"
Did Stefon write this?
posted by jonathanhughes at 11:40 AM on February 16, 2022 [61 favorites]
Did Stefon write this?
posted by jonathanhughes at 11:40 AM on February 16, 2022 [61 favorites]
Trend Forecasting Consultancy is my new band name, we're Meta-hipstercore, so by the time you've heard our songs they're already out of fashion, so it's cool to listen to them ironically even for the first time.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:42 AM on February 16, 2022 [20 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:42 AM on February 16, 2022 [20 favorites]
The writer, Allison P. Davis, seems to be coming at this with an observational self-awareness that makes for an interesting peek-behind-the-curtain into a strange kind of alien world.
This Monahan person, on the other hand, seems fully bought-in and thus, essentially, a monster:
This Monahan person, on the other hand, seems fully bought-in and thus, essentially, a monster:
Normcore went viral but didn’t make his group any money. “It was never like, Here’s our exit plans to become millionaires, turn our PDFs into a global creative-services brand or something,” he explains. K-HOLE dissolved in 2016. He chalks it up to the times, what he calls “the unworkableness” of 2010 culture. “We had a very broad reach but no monetization.”posted by Atom Eyes at 11:43 AM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
But brands will always need someone to explain TikTok microcultures to old losers. So even without the collective, Monahan has found success as a consultant for brands, like Nike, that pay him to tell a good story about why a person buys X over Y.
The new vibe is tenured professor sexually harassing students in office hours, except it’s just a fifty year old hipster who isn’t a professor and it’s in a bar.
posted by snofoam at 11:44 AM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 11:44 AM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
Monoculture is dead. Stop trying to make Monoculture happen again.
posted by SansPoint at 11:45 AM on February 16, 2022 [45 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 11:45 AM on February 16, 2022 [45 favorites]
(information he deemed so valuable it would require purchasing a $600 annual subscription to [his Substack to] access. Now, a year’s subscription is more in line with the market standard of $50). Half a year later, he still can’t quite figure it out.
He sees Substacks and podcasts as the new blogs
This feels like a submarine pitch for Substack-as-company, trying to recoup some positive vibes after the mess of "we don't censor TERFs, but let me tell you what we *do* think is censorable" they've been in lately, with executives getting into Twitter slapfights to try to draw traffic onto Substack.
The latter part is more context than me thinking that's directly at play here, but it feels like an extra layer of "we're supposed to be the ones extrapolating trends, so here we are showing you the trends behind extrapolating trends" than anything directly approaching the subject.
posted by CrystalDave at 11:47 AM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
He sees Substacks and podcasts as the new blogs
This feels like a submarine pitch for Substack-as-company, trying to recoup some positive vibes after the mess of "we don't censor TERFs, but let me tell you what we *do* think is censorable" they've been in lately, with executives getting into Twitter slapfights to try to draw traffic onto Substack.
The latter part is more context than me thinking that's directly at play here, but it feels like an extra layer of "we're supposed to be the ones extrapolating trends, so here we are showing you the trends behind extrapolating trends" than anything directly approaching the subject.
posted by CrystalDave at 11:47 AM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
All I can think about while reading this is: What a tiny little bubble these people seem to live in.
The "vibes" they purport to track have all occurred among a very small demographic. And their cultural memory apparently doesn't go back beyond 2003.
Most of the most interesting vibes/scenes/subcultures/etc. that I've experienced in my life were over by 2003. That was basically the end date for electroclash (itself something of a pastiche/revival of ideas and trends from the early '80s).
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 11:47 AM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
The "vibes" they purport to track have all occurred among a very small demographic. And their cultural memory apparently doesn't go back beyond 2003.
Most of the most interesting vibes/scenes/subcultures/etc. that I've experienced in my life were over by 2003. That was basically the end date for electroclash (itself something of a pastiche/revival of ideas and trends from the early '80s).
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 11:47 AM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
This Monahan person, on the other hand, seems fully bought-in and thus, essentially, a monster
Yes I think that's right. I want cultural studies researches to write on the clothing, music and trends of the time, not someone who's tryna forecast it for a buck. Where's today's Stuart Hall on normcore, on Nike Frees, on Drake?
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:49 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yes I think that's right. I want cultural studies researches to write on the clothing, music and trends of the time, not someone who's tryna forecast it for a buck. Where's today's Stuart Hall on normcore, on Nike Frees, on Drake?
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:49 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
the only spectacle less appealing than inter-generational cultural warfare, is internecine generational cultural warfare
posted by elkevelvet at 11:50 AM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by elkevelvet at 11:50 AM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
OMG remember back when people talked about "vibes"? So yesterday!
posted by The Tensor at 11:52 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The Tensor at 11:52 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm just glad that I was never cool so I don't have to worry about any of this. Or does that mean that I am, in fact, the coolest?
posted by rhymedirective at 11:52 AM on February 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by rhymedirective at 11:52 AM on February 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
I am not willing to admit that we are past the blood orange era. *reaches for another blood orange to peel*
posted by Quasirandom at 11:56 AM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Quasirandom at 11:56 AM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
I am, in fact, the coolest?
You were until you starting talking about it
posted by gwint at 11:56 AM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
You were until you starting talking about it
posted by gwint at 11:56 AM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
I was at the ArtBasel Miami talk where K-HOLE dropped the normcore thesis years back. These days I only have about three outfits, the best of which are the insulated coveralls I've been sporting since morning temps dropped below 25 or so.
still promise u issa vibe tho
posted by youarenothere at 11:57 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
still promise u issa vibe tho
posted by youarenothere at 11:57 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Most of the most interesting vibes/scenes/subcultures/etc. that I've experienced in my life were over by 2003
yes, the way any number of people just go around being under 30-34 without making any apology or excuse for it is a deep affront to me, also
I hear they most of them stop doing it eventually, though, so it's probably ok
posted by queenofbithynia at 11:57 AM on February 16, 2022 [41 favorites]
I used to vibe with the dominant social wavelength, but then they shifted the vibe of the dominant social wavelength. Now what I vibe with isn’t the dominant social wavelength anymore and what is the dominant social wavelength seems weird and scary.
It’ll happen to you!
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:01 PM on February 16, 2022 [72 favorites]
It’ll happen to you!
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:01 PM on February 16, 2022 [72 favorites]
The vibes are in fact changing though. When I see it on tv I say "They're using the new way that characters speak on tv here" and my hubby is like "Wtf are you talking about" but I can hear it. I just can't describe it well enough to have a $600 substack about it I guess.
posted by bleep at 12:03 PM on February 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:03 PM on February 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
If my comments are interesting though feel free to send me $600 any time.
posted by bleep at 12:04 PM on February 16, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:04 PM on February 16, 2022 [13 favorites]
I thought this thread would be about autoerotica. So disappointed.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:04 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:04 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
But brands will always need someone to explain TikTok microcultures to old losers.
This is where I find MetaFilter useful.
posted by skyscraper at 12:04 PM on February 16, 2022 [15 favorites]
This is where I find MetaFilter useful.
posted by skyscraper at 12:04 PM on February 16, 2022 [15 favorites]
OMG remember back when people talked about "vibes"? So yesterday!
Vibes will be over when my kids don't have 100 shirts that say something about vibes. Probably the same time llamas are over. Because llama rhymes with drama and they are funny looking so they make lots of shirts about that.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:11 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Vibes will be over when my kids don't have 100 shirts that say something about vibes. Probably the same time llamas are over. Because llama rhymes with drama and they are funny looking so they make lots of shirts about that.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:11 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Vibes essentially killed Cyndi Lauper's movie career before it even began, although I guess Jeff Goldblum went on to do pretty well for himself, so I guess he survived it pretty well
posted by phooky at 12:11 PM on February 16, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by phooky at 12:11 PM on February 16, 2022 [15 favorites]
I am not willing to admit that we are past the blood orange era
I used to vibe with the dominant social wavelength
A key finding in quantum vibe-o-dynamics is that eating blood oranges while listening to normcore is both a vibe and a particle.
posted by otherchaz at 12:12 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
I used to vibe with the dominant social wavelength
A key finding in quantum vibe-o-dynamics is that eating blood oranges while listening to normcore is both a vibe and a particle.
posted by otherchaz at 12:12 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
MetaFilter: Most promisingly, he predicts a return of irony.
posted by gauche at 12:12 PM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by gauche at 12:12 PM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
I could accept that some of my old bars had closed (RIP, Frank’s, Kinfolk) and that a bunch of people I knew had babies (RIP, people who had babies),
and that's where i quit reading
RIP, pretentious goofball
posted by pyramid termite at 12:24 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
and that's where i quit reading
RIP, pretentious goofball
posted by pyramid termite at 12:24 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I love stuff like this, though I'm old enough that the vibe rut I'm stuck in means that I wear my backpack on one shoulder because I still hold the 1980's belief that it's cooler, even if literally all the young cool people alive use both shoulders and don't have back issues.
posted by Mchelly at 12:26 PM on February 16, 2022 [32 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 12:26 PM on February 16, 2022 [32 favorites]
just kinda want to put my arms around these people and gently rock them back and forth while they cry it out
posted by Gerald Bostock at 12:40 PM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by Gerald Bostock at 12:40 PM on February 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
Weird. I used "vibes" in another thread just now. I hadn't seen this yet.
It must have been sending out vibe vibes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:45 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
It must have been sending out vibe vibes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:45 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
I thought this thread would be about autoerotica.
Would that be about owners of this car?
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:48 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Would that be about owners of this car?
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:48 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I think usage of the word 'vibe' might be on the way out, considering that it's older than your dad, and it's association with a new breed of bluetooth technodildos.
posted by adept256 at 12:52 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by adept256 at 12:52 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Monoculture is dead. Stop trying to make Monoculture happen again.
I does feel like constantly mutating variants are currently dominating our culture
posted by Kabanos at 12:54 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
I does feel like constantly mutating variants are currently dominating our culture
posted by Kabanos at 12:54 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
I know I'm not young anymore. I've come to grips with that. But pieces like this make me start to wonder if I ever was...
posted by Naberius at 12:56 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 12:56 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Well, I got to the first section break before I said "What is wrong with you people?"
The first photo and its caption were sufficient for me
posted by ook at 12:56 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
The first photo and its caption were sufficient for me
posted by ook at 12:56 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Most of the most interesting vibes/scenes/subcultures/etc. that I've experienced in my life were over by 2003
yes, the way any number of people just go around being under 30-34 without making any apology or excuse for it is a deep affront to me, also
Somehow you seem to have mistaken my comment about my own life experiences for an expression of affront at young people.
I'm genuinely confused by your response.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:06 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
yes, the way any number of people just go around being under 30-34 without making any apology or excuse for it is a deep affront to me, also
Somehow you seem to have mistaken my comment about my own life experiences for an expression of affront at young people.
I'm genuinely confused by your response.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:06 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Swallowing my distaste for people who place such terminal importance on being hip that they don't distinguish between "getting old and having babies" vs. "literally dying" (how do you trust the judgement someone who conflates "dying" with literally the opposite of dying), I do think he has a point about this:
And we had the rise of all these world-spanning, like, Sauron-esque tech platforms that literally have presences on every continent. People want to make things personal again.
Facebook is already demographically a thing for The Olds now, but it does seem to me like "kids these days" and even twenty-somethings these days are a lot less interested in sharing their every meal or every vacation photo with infinite randos on social media. Which seems like a goodtrend fad "vibe".
posted by mstokes650 at 1:10 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
And we had the rise of all these world-spanning, like, Sauron-esque tech platforms that literally have presences on every continent. People want to make things personal again.
Facebook is already demographically a thing for The Olds now, but it does seem to me like "kids these days" and even twenty-somethings these days are a lot less interested in sharing their every meal or every vacation photo with infinite randos on social media. Which seems like a good
posted by mstokes650 at 1:10 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
None of you will survive. Do you not understand how aging works? If you don’t get off the merry-go-round at some point you become a creepy, pathetic old vibester.
One day you'll notice that you never see that creepy old guy who is always dancing along to every club show anymore......
posted by thelonius at 1:22 PM on February 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
One day you'll notice that you never see that creepy old guy who is always dancing along to every club show anymore......
posted by thelonius at 1:22 PM on February 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
*stares in GenX who was low-key "dressing like the Matrix" before "the Matrix" was a movie that exists*
Dressing Vaguely Goth was in style, then it went out of style, then it was in style again, then it was out of style again, is it in or out of style this year? I don't care, I like how I look in it, my long black coat gives me +3 to Presence and Witchiness regardless of whether or not it is currently in style and the fact that there's a lot of the year where it's a bad idea to wear it is about the only thing I regret about moving back to New Orleans. And the fact that lately I keep running into streets blocked off for filming the Interview with a Vampire series probably means there will be a significant cohort of young people who decide Vaguely Goth is cool again soon.
I guess there is probably something to say about how I went from "too much of a nerd to worry about what was fashionable" as a teen guy to "old lady who gives zero fucks about what's fashionable" after one transition and thirty-five years, and how this will probably happen to everyone who knows what a "hypebeast" is and whether or not they ever wanted to be one, but, well. *shrug*
posted by egypturnash at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [19 favorites]
Dressing Vaguely Goth was in style, then it went out of style, then it was in style again, then it was out of style again, is it in or out of style this year? I don't care, I like how I look in it, my long black coat gives me +3 to Presence and Witchiness regardless of whether or not it is currently in style and the fact that there's a lot of the year where it's a bad idea to wear it is about the only thing I regret about moving back to New Orleans. And the fact that lately I keep running into streets blocked off for filming the Interview with a Vampire series probably means there will be a significant cohort of young people who decide Vaguely Goth is cool again soon.
I guess there is probably something to say about how I went from "too much of a nerd to worry about what was fashionable" as a teen guy to "old lady who gives zero fucks about what's fashionable" after one transition and thirty-five years, and how this will probably happen to everyone who knows what a "hypebeast" is and whether or not they ever wanted to be one, but, well. *shrug*
posted by egypturnash at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [19 favorites]
Honestly, I can't remember anything from before "get off my lawn" vibe kicked in for me quite some time ago.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wait, we're no longer in the track jacket vibe?
posted by pepcorn at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pepcorn at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Post-Internet/Techno Revival (ca. 2010–16), or the Blood Orange era, normcore, dressing like The Matrix, Kinfolk the club, not Kinfolk the magazine
Does that include EDM, because the dubstep/brostep electronic music festival rave culture was massively more mainstream and influential than er a two-comment article about a journalist doing cosplay?
posted by Apocryphon at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Does that include EDM, because the dubstep/brostep electronic music festival rave culture was massively more mainstream and influential than er a two-comment article about a journalist doing cosplay?
posted by Apocryphon at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Vibes.
Vibes. (shudder)
Am I the only one here who's read Philip Wylie's The End of the Dream?
posted by Rash at 1:50 PM on February 16, 2022
Vibes. (shudder)
Am I the only one here who's read Philip Wylie's The End of the Dream?
posted by Rash at 1:50 PM on February 16, 2022
Gotta love an article that repeatedly talks about what everyone thinks, sees, feels, whatever and it never becomes clear who the fuck "everybody" is to the speaker using the word. Is it one of those obnoxious Trumpy kind of things, where you say "everybody agrees about X" where X is just your opinion and the everybody who agrees is yourself?
posted by GoblinHoney at 2:19 PM on February 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by GoblinHoney at 2:19 PM on February 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
I'm thinking now is when fetch really happens.
posted by advicepig at 2:20 PM on February 16, 2022 [27 favorites]
posted by advicepig at 2:20 PM on February 16, 2022 [27 favorites]
I'm still sad that I missed Health Goth.
posted by thivaia at 2:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 2:30 PM on February 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
First they came for the hypebeasts, and I didn’t speak out, because I’d never really understood what a hypebeast was.
Then they came for the sneaker collectors, and I didn’t speak out, because jeepers, they’re just sneakers for crying out loud,
Then they said they came for the people dancing in warehouses to indie bands under fairy lights, and I said, wait, how many years ago was that? That can’t be right, that was only yesterday I was dancing in warehouses while indie bands played under fairy lights.
Then they said that aesthetic was totally coming back, and I said can the indie bands play lunch gigs in warehouses under fairy lights so I can get back to work, and no afternoon shows are difficult because that’s when I pick up the kids from kindergarten. And yeah, weekends are right out, unless there’s a ball pit for the kids or something.
Then I got tired and went to bed.
posted by Kattullus at 2:34 PM on February 16, 2022 [39 favorites]
Then they came for the sneaker collectors, and I didn’t speak out, because jeepers, they’re just sneakers for crying out loud,
Then they said they came for the people dancing in warehouses to indie bands under fairy lights, and I said, wait, how many years ago was that? That can’t be right, that was only yesterday I was dancing in warehouses while indie bands played under fairy lights.
Then they said that aesthetic was totally coming back, and I said can the indie bands play lunch gigs in warehouses under fairy lights so I can get back to work, and no afternoon shows are difficult because that’s when I pick up the kids from kindergarten. And yeah, weekends are right out, unless there’s a ball pit for the kids or something.
Then I got tired and went to bed.
posted by Kattullus at 2:34 PM on February 16, 2022 [39 favorites]
>I'm thinking now is when fetch really happens.
Does Monoculture even go here?
posted by k3ninho at 2:45 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Does Monoculture even go here?
posted by k3ninho at 2:45 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
I know I should read the fucking article but all of these comments have brought me to such a delightful state of fulfillment and satisfaction that reading it would probably ruin, I don’t know, the vibe?
Thanks for the post, OP!
posted by Bella Donna at 2:50 PM on February 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
Thanks for the post, OP!
posted by Bella Donna at 2:50 PM on February 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
Being "hip" seems exhausting.
posted by maxwelton at 2:54 PM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 2:54 PM on February 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
But brands will always need someone to explain TikTok microcultures to old losers.
Wherein “old losers” = “anyone not part of my microculture”
posted by Thorzdad at 2:55 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wherein “old losers” = “anyone not part of my microculture”
posted by Thorzdad at 2:55 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Bitter, blood orange irony, with whitish hippie hair, let out of it's cage each morning. Would like to care about anything, can only come up with what the Earth is doing, in my immediate vicinity. Trendy, maybe I was that, way back, but otherwise, trends are alienating by design, so trendsetters are the exclusive, sacrificial lambs for marketing scams, burnished with fool's gold dust of seeming speciality.
But hey, it's nice to feel awright 'bout yerself on Friday night, whatever veneer gets you near your groove. The matter of looking up a cultural platform to whip up, as you would find a recipe to make gumbo...maybe if they keep it light, gravity will be less harsh, when the carpet gets yanked out from under those Rocket Dogs.
I owned some of those once, so I could put them on and feel hip in my room, before making dinner for the kids and me. I coudn't even walk in them, but I let them sit around to see. I am not immune to the impulse, but striving for comfort, anonimity, and invisibility, is my gig IRL.
posted by Oyéah at 3:05 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
But hey, it's nice to feel awright 'bout yerself on Friday night, whatever veneer gets you near your groove. The matter of looking up a cultural platform to whip up, as you would find a recipe to make gumbo...maybe if they keep it light, gravity will be less harsh, when the carpet gets yanked out from under those Rocket Dogs.
I owned some of those once, so I could put them on and feel hip in my room, before making dinner for the kids and me. I coudn't even walk in them, but I let them sit around to see. I am not immune to the impulse, but striving for comfort, anonimity, and invisibility, is my gig IRL.
posted by Oyéah at 3:05 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I didn’t RTFA but do those “eras” roughly match US Presidential administrations on purpose?
posted by heyitsgogi at 3:13 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by heyitsgogi at 3:13 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’m looking forward to a return of the time when the only people talking about “vibes” are my California aunties. (Also, astrology.)
The dude interviewed in the article has got people to pay him real money (or crypto) to share really obvious observations about fashion running in twenty-ish year cycles. Good for him, fools and money, etc. Trucker hats for all!
posted by betweenthebars at 3:23 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
The dude interviewed in the article has got people to pay him real money (or crypto) to share really obvious observations about fashion running in twenty-ish year cycles. Good for him, fools and money, etc. Trucker hats for all!
posted by betweenthebars at 3:23 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wake me up for alt.country 2 acoustic boogaloo.
posted by snofoam at 3:38 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 3:38 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Ridley Scott’s House of Jealous Bloggers advertised only by speakeasy-style bartenders in arm garters whispering their promos solely to pursuit-frame fixie owners who request cocktails that “aren’t sweet”; Zillenials refuse this overture, citing an excess of cringe.
posted by hototogisu at 3:38 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by hototogisu at 3:38 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
it is with quiet acceptance that I find myself much farther from 'hip' territory and much closer to 'need a new hip' territory, and I know I'm speaking in cliches, but it's also the truth, Ruth
edit to add: permanently residing in The Hip territory, as any dutiful Canadian must
posted by elkevelvet at 3:41 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
edit to add: permanently residing in The Hip territory, as any dutiful Canadian must
posted by elkevelvet at 3:41 PM on February 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
permanently residing in The Hip territory, as any dutiful Canadian must
Hopefully not tragically
posted by mollweide at 3:42 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Hopefully not tragically
posted by mollweide at 3:42 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
I can't tell if this thread shows that Metafilter skews older than I imagined, or if younger MeFi users instinctually avoided this thread.
(I am old)
posted by gwint at 3:49 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
(I am old)
posted by gwint at 3:49 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
I am having happy vibes staying in the house. I don't even care who's on my lawn.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 3:55 PM on February 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 3:55 PM on February 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
*stares in GenX who was low-key "dressing like the Matrix" before "the Matrix" was a movie that exists*
I had to tell someone the other day that I wasn't dressed like Neo, I was dressed like Fox Mulder. In the same coat that I bought at Montgomery Wards over Thanksgiving weekend in 1992.
posted by Horkus at 3:56 PM on February 16, 2022 [24 favorites]
I had to tell someone the other day that I wasn't dressed like Neo, I was dressed like Fox Mulder. In the same coat that I bought at Montgomery Wards over Thanksgiving weekend in 1992.
posted by Horkus at 3:56 PM on February 16, 2022 [24 favorites]
I am a 36 year old from the Midwest who felt myself age another 10 years just from reading the pull quotes at the top, mostly because I have no idea WTF 1/3 of the references are.
posted by mostly vowels at 3:58 PM on February 16, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by mostly vowels at 3:58 PM on February 16, 2022 [14 favorites]
Welp. That was certainly a bunch of words all combined together into a series of sentences and paragraphs.
posted by soundguy99 at 3:59 PM on February 16, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 3:59 PM on February 16, 2022 [14 favorites]
OK but now that I am RTFA I actually feel like I understand how the "fuck you got mine" coke and getting rich vibe of the 1980s happened after all the heady politics of the late 1960s/1970s:
I suggest that the death drive has something to do with it. With the pandemic and climate change, our aesthetic and behavior are certainly shaped by a sense of doom. There’s a nihilism to the way people dress and party; our heels get higher the closer we inch to death. It’s why people are smoking again, so says the New York Times. “Oh, sure,” Monahan agrees, but not fully. “I think the interest in opulence and the interest in transgression are in some ways just pent-up frustrations from the pandemic where people are like, I want to have fun. Also, the 2010s were such a politicized decade that I think the desire people have to be less constrained by political considerations makes a lot of sense.” I can tell he’s theorizing on the fly when he points to the fact that there’s now a bouncer at Bemelmans Bar as evidence of the new embrace of old opulence.
Uh.....
posted by mostly vowels at 4:05 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I suggest that the death drive has something to do with it. With the pandemic and climate change, our aesthetic and behavior are certainly shaped by a sense of doom. There’s a nihilism to the way people dress and party; our heels get higher the closer we inch to death. It’s why people are smoking again, so says the New York Times. “Oh, sure,” Monahan agrees, but not fully. “I think the interest in opulence and the interest in transgression are in some ways just pent-up frustrations from the pandemic where people are like, I want to have fun. Also, the 2010s were such a politicized decade that I think the desire people have to be less constrained by political considerations makes a lot of sense.” I can tell he’s theorizing on the fly when he points to the fact that there’s now a bouncer at Bemelmans Bar as evidence of the new embrace of old opulence.
Uh.....
posted by mostly vowels at 4:05 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I find myself thinking of Tom Wolfe's comic strip, The Man Who Always Peaked Too Soon.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:05 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:05 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
One day you'll notice that you never see that creepy old guy who is always dancing along to every club show anymore......
posted by otherchaz at 4:11 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by otherchaz at 4:11 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
35 is just about in the middle of a common phase where a person decides if they're going to include themselves in the next instances of rising subcultures and fashion. It's not that the distressed skinny jeans don't fit anymore, but stripey clown pants? That's next? Hmm, maybe khakis aren't the worst. Look at that Ronson guy. He had to do this, too. It's a rite of passage. And here's 1500 words about that. Such is discovery. And look, even my examples are 10 years out of date.
The most bizarre aspect of this is that there's almost no mention of the pandemic. That even the essay itself, not to mention the idea of a $600 Substack emerging sui generis from a slightly overripe figurehead of a recentish movementlet, isn't an artifact of sitting home in isolation for two goldarn years. That's why smoking is back!
This is absolutely navel-gazing soul-searching of the Razor's Edge variety, I'm confident of it, but the way it's trying to construct a straight line through a recent history that has made a sharp turn is almost quaint. That may be the millenial legacy, that the pandemic hit right at the point where kids and career and houses (but probably not houses) start washing through your circles of friends. Turns out something else washed through first (or just-as) and that will be their generational war. Congrats, I come from GenX who was famously the first generation in a long time to have no war define them.
posted by rhizome at 4:21 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
The most bizarre aspect of this is that there's almost no mention of the pandemic. That even the essay itself, not to mention the idea of a $600 Substack emerging sui generis from a slightly overripe figurehead of a recentish movementlet, isn't an artifact of sitting home in isolation for two goldarn years. That's why smoking is back!
This is absolutely navel-gazing soul-searching of the Razor's Edge variety, I'm confident of it, but the way it's trying to construct a straight line through a recent history that has made a sharp turn is almost quaint. That may be the millenial legacy, that the pandemic hit right at the point where kids and career and houses (but probably not houses) start washing through your circles of friends. Turns out something else washed through first (or just-as) and that will be their generational war. Congrats, I come from GenX who was famously the first generation in a long time to have no war define them.
posted by rhizome at 4:21 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
oh, jfc I felt stupid for reading this
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 4:29 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 4:29 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
It seems like "rich young people who live in big cities care about fashion and changing trends" is a marketing construct that controls much of the dominant vibe of the culture of our society... And that vibe apparently never goes out of style.
posted by SystematicAbuse at 4:33 PM on February 16, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by SystematicAbuse at 4:33 PM on February 16, 2022 [12 favorites]
+3 to Presence and Witchiness
Sockpuppet name up for grabs
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:50 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sockpuppet name up for grabs
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:50 PM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
You gotta vibe to your own frequency, man, it's the only way to make it into your forties without embarrassing your nieces and nephews
posted by dis_integration at 5:07 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dis_integration at 5:07 PM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Snark aside, I am glad that culture exists and evolves. I’m not in a place where my taste or creativity is driving it, but I think there are zeitgeists out there driving people to collaboratively create “vibes” without consciously working together. And to some degree, recognizing and commenting on trends can be part of the existence of a trend, though of course not in the jerk off way this article does it. There are always lots of vibes going on at once, and really digging into them can be pretty interesting. A lot more interesting than trying to codify the rich white people trends as some kind of hipster canon. Trying to document and understand some micro-scene is so much more interesting than pretending to be a tastemaker.
posted by snofoam at 5:15 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 5:15 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'm so many vibes back that this made me think, "I wonder what Faith Popcorn is doing these days?"
posted by jocelmeow at 5:20 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by jocelmeow at 5:20 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
What struck me is how fucking insufferably *white* this feels.
posted by aspersioncast at 5:27 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 5:27 PM on February 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Allison Davis is a Black woman, fwiw. But yeah she points out that, "it’s kind of fun debating which trend was peaking when, or which was just for white people."
It's also interesting to see how things are appropriated and captured and encysted by folks with privilege.
posted by Chrysopoeia at 5:41 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
It's also interesting to see how things are appropriated and captured and encysted by folks with privilege.
posted by Chrysopoeia at 5:41 PM on February 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Just remember those 1.8 million dollar sneakers that were Kanye West's. That's a lot of hip hop capital. Trendsetting. Trending is a free for all.
posted by Oyéah at 5:45 PM on February 16, 2022
posted by Oyéah at 5:45 PM on February 16, 2022
All I can think about while reading this is: What a tiny little bubble these people seem to live in...
Most of the most interesting vibes/scenes/subcultures/etc. that I've experienced in my life were over by 2003. That was basically the end date for electroclash
Is this parody?
posted by viborg at 7:32 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Most of the most interesting vibes/scenes/subcultures/etc. that I've experienced in my life were over by 2003. That was basically the end date for electroclash
Is this parody?
posted by viborg at 7:32 PM on February 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Waiting for the vibe shift from sustainability language to habitability language.
In the vein of, "Northrop Grumman is dedicated to the ongoing habitability of the Poconos Autonomous Economic Opportunity Area"
posted by Slackermagee at 7:41 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
In the vein of, "Northrop Grumman is dedicated to the ongoing habitability of the Poconos Autonomous Economic Opportunity Area"
posted by Slackermagee at 7:41 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
One more chance to get it all wrong
One more time to do it all wrong
posted by Catblack at 7:45 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
One more time to do it all wrong
posted by Catblack at 7:45 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
My clothes don't wear out fast enough for me to keep up. I'm just gonna look old and it's ok. (I'm also 35.) I have noticed my younger college classmates' style and I just feel tired. I don't care enough to get it. I am mildly curious about joggers because I see so many ads for them. Are they going away soon or will they be like leggings where they have an amazingly long-lived stamina?
Also, I never listened to a wide enough variety of music to be cool so that route is closed to me.
I am pretty careful about home trends because I live here, so I don't want to accidentally get a couch that's too trendy and then will peak and fade be over and I'll be annoyed that I still have to see it.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:21 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, I never listened to a wide enough variety of music to be cool so that route is closed to me.
I am pretty careful about home trends because I live here, so I don't want to accidentally get a couch that's too trendy and then will peak and fade be over and I'll be annoyed that I still have to see it.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:21 PM on February 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
I just moved from Minneapolis to a small city and have tried a few places to get my hair cut. Luckily my hair is pretty unruinable, but the hair cut the most recent stylist wanted to give me. Oof. I felt a communication chasm. She was young and cute so I felt confident she would have good taste. Then she described how I might style my hair and it was something I would expect on a 45-year-old boring white lady 20 years ago.
How did she even know about that style? She saw it when she was 12 and carried it in her heart ever since?
I'm not trying to be hip but I'm not trying to be AGGRESSIVELY outdated. geez
The more terrifying explanation is that SHE thinks it's a terrible and outdated style, but thought I was of the age and disposition to be into it.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:26 PM on February 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
How did she even know about that style? She saw it when she was 12 and carried it in her heart ever since?
I'm not trying to be hip but I'm not trying to be AGGRESSIVELY outdated. geez
The more terrifying explanation is that SHE thinks it's a terrible and outdated style, but thought I was of the age and disposition to be into it.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:26 PM on February 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
John Hodgman once described hipsters as people who use culture as a cudgel to get status. This reads like someone dismayed to find himself at the other end of the cudgel.
The best thing about getting older has been aging into my baseline level of uncoolness. I'm no longer a person failing at being young and therefore hip. I'm just another nondescript thirtysomething, and it's kind of...nice.
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 9:02 PM on February 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
The best thing about getting older has been aging into my baseline level of uncoolness. I'm no longer a person failing at being young and therefore hip. I'm just another nondescript thirtysomething, and it's kind of...nice.
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 9:02 PM on February 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
In the last year I've bought a six-necked guitar and a church. I'm making my own vibe over here, thanks.
posted by jscalzi at 2:14 AM on February 17, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by jscalzi at 2:14 AM on February 17, 2022 [23 favorites]
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die.posted by srboisvert at 3:53 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Gawd. I do think in a lot of these comments, the reply "Let people enjoy things" comes to mind.
I am old and while nowhere near hip enough (or do I care), these shifts happen. They do exist. They have influence that ripples out further than you think. And sure you may not be affected, others are.
Yes, there are a million objections you can make to the culture industry but, ultimately, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The piece is right.
There is a bit of a gulf right now - as most of us have been inside for the last two years. The 2020s feel different - obvious statement really. It's just not clear what this means right now.
There will be a new zeitgeist - or if you prefer vibe :) It's interesting to note this and wonder what it will be.
posted by treblekicker at 6:06 AM on February 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
I am old and while nowhere near hip enough (or do I care), these shifts happen. They do exist. They have influence that ripples out further than you think. And sure you may not be affected, others are.
Yes, there are a million objections you can make to the culture industry but, ultimately, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The piece is right.
There is a bit of a gulf right now - as most of us have been inside for the last two years. The 2020s feel different - obvious statement really. It's just not clear what this means right now.
There will be a new zeitgeist - or if you prefer vibe :) It's interesting to note this and wonder what it will be.
posted by treblekicker at 6:06 AM on February 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
What I like about middle age is less that I'm not with it anymore and thus the pressure is off, but more that I can now enjoy watching the stream of culture as it flows by, dynamic and ever-changing, without worrying about being in it or "keeping up" with it. "It" (being culture) is always interesting and evolving; I'm just glad to be more at bystander or occasional participation status these days, much less tiring.
posted by LooseFilter at 7:28 AM on February 17, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by LooseFilter at 7:28 AM on February 17, 2022 [12 favorites]
Yes, culture as a river rather than a suit of armor.
posted by gwint at 7:59 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by gwint at 7:59 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Small point, but the NYT story about how the youth are smoking again is pretty questionable.
posted by naoko at 8:18 AM on February 17, 2022
posted by naoko at 8:18 AM on February 17, 2022
I can't exactly shake my head and go "Kids these days," as I was never "with it," even in my early 20s, on account of being a nerd and a dork whose musical tastes have always leaned hard in a direction away from a lot of mainstream and indie pop/rock. There have been brief moments where the popular music and culture zeitgeist came within spitting range of my particular wheelhouse, but never enough for me to actually stake a claim. I'm thinking of that brief period around 2012-13 where there were a bunch of synthpop songs in the charts. It trailed off not long after Random Access Memories came out.
Since then, I've settled into being on the fringes of NYC's goth and dark electronic scene. It's not hipster culture, it's not mainstream culture, but it's a nice little niche to hang out in, listen and dance to music I like, dress how I like, and get to know people with similar cultural interests as me. It's an interesting place to be, as it's a subculture that has a long history, but still attracts new people to it. It's not unusual to see people at a show or dance party ranging from their fifties to their twenties, appreciating new and old music and with different, related forms of presentation in the substyles of the subculture. It's nice to be even a small part of a subculture that has some history to it and isn't going to just be subsumed in a couple years by the Next Cool Trend.
But, you know, it's not my life. It's just fun to dress up in black, throw on some eyeliner and fishnets, and go moodily dance to moody, angsty music by moody, angsty people.
posted by SansPoint at 8:23 AM on February 17, 2022 [8 favorites]
Since then, I've settled into being on the fringes of NYC's goth and dark electronic scene. It's not hipster culture, it's not mainstream culture, but it's a nice little niche to hang out in, listen and dance to music I like, dress how I like, and get to know people with similar cultural interests as me. It's an interesting place to be, as it's a subculture that has a long history, but still attracts new people to it. It's not unusual to see people at a show or dance party ranging from their fifties to their twenties, appreciating new and old music and with different, related forms of presentation in the substyles of the subculture. It's nice to be even a small part of a subculture that has some history to it and isn't going to just be subsumed in a couple years by the Next Cool Trend.
But, you know, it's not my life. It's just fun to dress up in black, throw on some eyeliner and fishnets, and go moodily dance to moody, angsty music by moody, angsty people.
posted by SansPoint at 8:23 AM on February 17, 2022 [8 favorites]
While I enjoy all the snark and the pushback and the anti-hipsterism and the anti-monoculturism, I want to engage with the thesis of this article seriously. And if you're not up-to-speed with the kinds of trends the article is talking about, you probably won't find this response interesting—but if you're at least halfway up-to-speed on your 20s culture and subculture, hopefully my opinion here is at least worth some food for thought.
One thing that I find really curious is that this article writer doesn't once bring up K-TRAXXX, which I and my friends pretty much agree upon as being the thing back in 2018 that established pre- and post-flight irony as the defining modes of youth discourse. (There's a whole thing here about Thomas Billard's GenQ and the looser idea of what the "Kansas sound" crew were getting into, but they tended to be a little bit conflicting and contradictory; I feel like pre-flight irony is about all you need to cover the stuff like Doug Murkintosh's stand-up commentary or those old Jippery videos on YouTube, and post-flight is what happens when you get into things like iDleFiGht, especially the newer things they've been doing on TikTok—things like this, if you're unfamiliar, but I feel like this stuff's been around for a hot minute.)
There's probably a whole thing you could say about cynicism/sincerity and how that plays into goth/post-goth culture (and honestly, ask five different goths where they feel their subculture falls on the sincerity spectrum and you'll get five completely different answers), but I feel like nowadays things that "look goth" oftentimes fall into two very separate categories. There's ruskrave, obviously, especially now that eastern Europe is trending so much in general, which I'd describe as a little more sincere/doomgasm/post-flight (if you want to call post-flight sincere, but that's honestly a whole other thing). And then you have stuff more like Pacific chill, which weirdly borrows a lot of goth and post-goth trends but incorporates them in a pretty pre-flight ironic fashion, by which I mean there's a sincerity to their appropriation but they're obviously still operating in a bit more of a pessimistic mode. (Also if you're not entirely on board with this terminology, it's "flight" as in wine, not as in air travel—otherwise the terms flat-out make no sense.)
I'm gonna be a little bit douchey and dub things like Pacific chill "TRAXXX-lite". Honestly, on some level I think the original intent was lost along the way—but that's to be expected when you're dealing with cultural appropriation and the assimilation of new ideas. Things start out knotted and complex and without a clear defining motive, and the movements they inspire are really derived from particular interpretations, which in turn are contradictory as different people find different initial meetings. "Kansas sound" feels a little more directly connected to ruskrave (and I guess snovvwave counts too, come to think of it), but even ruskrave is kind of old hat right now. Fedora Tao is a kind of interesting one to follow in this scene: they kind of combine Kansas sound ideas with some retro-futurism in a way that leads to an aesthetic that's a lot closer to circuitpunk than anything else, even though it comes out of a completely different ballpark than where circuitpunk began. It's not like they're about to start cosplaying J. D. Langley or anything—but even so, you wind up with a bunch of 15-year-olds emulating styles and even attitudes that seem like they're right out of Euro-Bosco or something similar from the early Trump days, probably without having any idea of where they're getting any of it from.
But that's the really interesting thing about influence, right? It's not this unbroken lineage, where each influencer and each movement has perfect recall of where their influences came from. You get this outside of explicit "culture" too, in the way that woke atheists sometimes seem like they're on the verge of re-inventing the worst parts of puritanical Protestantism, or even in how a sports meme like the Dilly Ducks find themselves totally acting like something out of an Augustine Bruges play. (Post-flight irony at its best, right there.) I dunno: all this is my way of saying that I think the author's onto something here, but is skimming the surface of something that runs pretty deep, and is rooted in trends that it sounds like she's conspicuously avoiding mentioning. If you're going to talk about vibe shifts without even mentioning Gofishtrombone or ghoulyarts and how huge they are with Zoomers and young Millennials, it would be like talking contemporary Marxism without mentioning that Kendall Maxx has 5 million TikTok followers and counting. (Just keep an eye on the bestseller lists, and ask yourself why so many "Adorno for teens" books are suddenly popping up in the independent presses. The kids know what's up, well before a prestigious outlet like NY Mag says a peep.)
posted by rorgy at 8:25 AM on February 17, 2022 [20 favorites]
One thing that I find really curious is that this article writer doesn't once bring up K-TRAXXX, which I and my friends pretty much agree upon as being the thing back in 2018 that established pre- and post-flight irony as the defining modes of youth discourse. (There's a whole thing here about Thomas Billard's GenQ and the looser idea of what the "Kansas sound" crew were getting into, but they tended to be a little bit conflicting and contradictory; I feel like pre-flight irony is about all you need to cover the stuff like Doug Murkintosh's stand-up commentary or those old Jippery videos on YouTube, and post-flight is what happens when you get into things like iDleFiGht, especially the newer things they've been doing on TikTok—things like this, if you're unfamiliar, but I feel like this stuff's been around for a hot minute.)
There's probably a whole thing you could say about cynicism/sincerity and how that plays into goth/post-goth culture (and honestly, ask five different goths where they feel their subculture falls on the sincerity spectrum and you'll get five completely different answers), but I feel like nowadays things that "look goth" oftentimes fall into two very separate categories. There's ruskrave, obviously, especially now that eastern Europe is trending so much in general, which I'd describe as a little more sincere/doomgasm/post-flight (if you want to call post-flight sincere, but that's honestly a whole other thing). And then you have stuff more like Pacific chill, which weirdly borrows a lot of goth and post-goth trends but incorporates them in a pretty pre-flight ironic fashion, by which I mean there's a sincerity to their appropriation but they're obviously still operating in a bit more of a pessimistic mode. (Also if you're not entirely on board with this terminology, it's "flight" as in wine, not as in air travel—otherwise the terms flat-out make no sense.)
I'm gonna be a little bit douchey and dub things like Pacific chill "TRAXXX-lite". Honestly, on some level I think the original intent was lost along the way—but that's to be expected when you're dealing with cultural appropriation and the assimilation of new ideas. Things start out knotted and complex and without a clear defining motive, and the movements they inspire are really derived from particular interpretations, which in turn are contradictory as different people find different initial meetings. "Kansas sound" feels a little more directly connected to ruskrave (and I guess snovvwave counts too, come to think of it), but even ruskrave is kind of old hat right now. Fedora Tao is a kind of interesting one to follow in this scene: they kind of combine Kansas sound ideas with some retro-futurism in a way that leads to an aesthetic that's a lot closer to circuitpunk than anything else, even though it comes out of a completely different ballpark than where circuitpunk began. It's not like they're about to start cosplaying J. D. Langley or anything—but even so, you wind up with a bunch of 15-year-olds emulating styles and even attitudes that seem like they're right out of Euro-Bosco or something similar from the early Trump days, probably without having any idea of where they're getting any of it from.
But that's the really interesting thing about influence, right? It's not this unbroken lineage, where each influencer and each movement has perfect recall of where their influences came from. You get this outside of explicit "culture" too, in the way that woke atheists sometimes seem like they're on the verge of re-inventing the worst parts of puritanical Protestantism, or even in how a sports meme like the Dilly Ducks find themselves totally acting like something out of an Augustine Bruges play. (Post-flight irony at its best, right there.) I dunno: all this is my way of saying that I think the author's onto something here, but is skimming the surface of something that runs pretty deep, and is rooted in trends that it sounds like she's conspicuously avoiding mentioning. If you're going to talk about vibe shifts without even mentioning Gofishtrombone or ghoulyarts and how huge they are with Zoomers and young Millennials, it would be like talking contemporary Marxism without mentioning that Kendall Maxx has 5 million TikTok followers and counting. (Just keep an eye on the bestseller lists, and ask yourself why so many "Adorno for teens" books are suddenly popping up in the independent presses. The kids know what's up, well before a prestigious outlet like NY Mag says a peep.)
posted by rorgy at 8:25 AM on February 17, 2022 [20 favorites]
thanks rorgy, I'm always up for thoughts shared
the link appears to be broken.. I'm almost scared to point that out, for all I know (that's the point)
posted by elkevelvet at 8:44 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
the link appears to be broken.. I'm almost scared to point that out, for all I know (that's the point)
posted by elkevelvet at 8:44 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Sorry, something I did must have broken the link—it’s meant to go here
posted by rorgy at 8:59 AM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by rorgy at 8:59 AM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Not just the link but looks like all of google for all but one of those references. That's how deep inside you've vibed. Well played, rorgy.
posted by Mchelly at 9:02 AM on February 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 9:02 AM on February 17, 2022 [11 favorites]
I'm so out of touch that if this turns out to be commitment to mocking the olds, I really wouldn't be surprised
well played indeed, can't wait for the punchline several comments down
posted by elkevelvet at 9:23 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
well played indeed, can't wait for the punchline several comments down
posted by elkevelvet at 9:23 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
I’ll be watching the Google trends for “Doug Murkintosh.”
posted by atoxyl at 9:35 AM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 9:35 AM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I like the creativity upthread re:K-Traxxx, Euro-Bosco and the rest but the truth is often stranger than fiction.
https://nobells.blog/soundcloud-microgenres/
posted by treblekicker at 9:39 AM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
https://nobells.blog/soundcloud-microgenres/
posted by treblekicker at 9:39 AM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Frankly that Kansas ghoul stuff just feels like reading the VVitch VVave blog in 2010 but you gotta let the kids have their fun.
posted by atoxyl at 9:47 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by atoxyl at 9:47 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Obligatory Sarah's Scribbles cartoon.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:50 AM on February 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:50 AM on February 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Obligatory Spy: "This is the 99999s, as in 'dressed to' and most people are..."
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:22 AM on February 17, 2022
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:22 AM on February 17, 2022
So many vibes long passed by, and no one mentioned the husk.
posted by Mchelly at 10:47 AM on February 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 10:47 AM on February 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
If I'm being honest, the single most upsetting part of this article is further evidence that low rise jeans are coming back in style. Kill me now.
posted by thivaia at 11:00 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 11:00 AM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
rorgy: "(Also if you're not entirely on board with this terminology, it's "flight" as in wine, not as in air travel—otherwise the terms flat-out make no sense.)"
Ah, thank you. Now it all makes sense.
posted by team lowkey at 11:03 AM on February 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Ah, thank you. Now it all makes sense.
posted by team lowkey at 11:03 AM on February 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Still, I think that people of my generation would more easily identify with artists like cliq.cloq as an example of post-flight irony, especially if you're talking ruskrave. I mean, "Moving Heads" says it all.
posted by team lowkey at 11:16 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by team lowkey at 11:16 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also if you're not entirely on board with this terminology, it's "flight" as in wine, not as in air travel—otherwise the terms flat-out make no sense.
I always thought that "flight" in wine meant figuratively flying around to different vineyards to try different products. Now I have no idea...
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:45 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I always thought that "flight" in wine meant figuratively flying around to different vineyards to try different products. Now I have no idea...
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:45 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Frankly that Kansas ghoul stuff just feels like reading the VVitch VVave blog in 2010 but you gotta let the kids have their fun.
(it’s funny because Witch House is actually back)
posted by atoxyl at 11:55 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
(it’s funny because Witch House is actually back)
posted by atoxyl at 11:55 AM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I always thought that "flight" in wine meant figuratively flying around to different vineyards to try different products. Now I have no idea...
if it's anything like the flight of beer I had at a micro-brewery in the Before Times, it's a sampling of wares.. smaller portions, served up all at once, to give you a taste of a bunch of things
and if this is just part of the elaborate joke started by rorgy, well, I get it. I'm old.
posted by elkevelvet at 12:01 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
if it's anything like the flight of beer I had at a micro-brewery in the Before Times, it's a sampling of wares.. smaller portions, served up all at once, to give you a taste of a bunch of things
and if this is just part of the elaborate joke started by rorgy, well, I get it. I'm old.
posted by elkevelvet at 12:01 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Is witch house really back if you can Google the song names?
posted by rorgy at 12:56 PM on February 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by rorgy at 12:56 PM on February 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
plot twist: it's a fake article authored by rorgy and posted by a sock puppet and we gettin trolled repeatedly
posted by elkevelvet at 1:12 PM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by elkevelvet at 1:12 PM on February 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Is witch house really back if you can Google the song names?
More focused on making it hard to hear what’s going on in the songs (he’s clearly also a black metal fan).
posted by atoxyl at 1:35 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
More focused on making it hard to hear what’s going on in the songs (he’s clearly also a black metal fan).
posted by atoxyl at 1:35 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
The only thing I understood was blood oranges. and maybe, dressing like the Matrix.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:51 PM on February 17, 2022
posted by bluesky43 at 2:51 PM on February 17, 2022
blood oranges
wait is this about the fruit or the music producer?
posted by atoxyl at 3:28 PM on February 17, 2022
wait is this about the fruit or the music producer?
posted by atoxyl at 3:28 PM on February 17, 2022
Oh fuck, microgenre! Bakersfield fans of Arvo Pärt, who neither drink, nor do drugs, nor go to church. If I step off the wrong curb, that wipes out the entire microgenre, best go stand in the forest, by the one tree that won't fall. Pacem, pacem, pacem...
posted by Oyéah at 3:41 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 3:41 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
blood oranges
wait is this about the fruit or the music producer?
posted by atoxyl
ok maybe I didn't understand blood oranges.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:20 PM on February 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
wait is this about the fruit or the music producer?
posted by atoxyl
ok maybe I didn't understand blood oranges.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:20 PM on February 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
The only thing I understood was blood oranges. and maybe, dressing like the Matrix.
Ohhh, that's what my problem was - I was dressing like a blood orange and trying to eat the Matrix! *smacks forehead
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:22 PM on February 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Ohhh, that's what my problem was - I was dressing like a blood orange and trying to eat the Matrix! *smacks forehead
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:22 PM on February 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
ok maybe I didn't understand blood oranges
it’s a real question - the fruit is bigger than the musician but the original capitalization has me a little confused
posted by atoxyl at 10:07 PM on February 17, 2022
it’s a real question - the fruit is bigger than the musician but the original capitalization has me a little confused
posted by atoxyl at 10:07 PM on February 17, 2022
I find all this talk of blood oranges a wee bit pretentious.
posted by maxwelton at 11:44 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 11:44 PM on February 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I really enjoyed this article!
Also, I saw a few comments seeming to suggest that the word “vibe” is out of style; I don’t think this is the case, given how many times a week I hear someone say “it passes the vibe check” or “i’m just vibing” or what have you.
posted by chaiyai at 12:29 AM on February 18, 2022
Also, I saw a few comments seeming to suggest that the word “vibe” is out of style; I don’t think this is the case, given how many times a week I hear someone say “it passes the vibe check” or “i’m just vibing” or what have you.
posted by chaiyai at 12:29 AM on February 18, 2022
>In the last year I've bought a six-necked guitar and a church. I'm making my own vibe over here, thanks.
There's a phase other SF authors have gone through where they say 'you know where there's a lot of money? religion!' and ... well, I hope we get to enjoy more of your writing and you're able to flourish on the earnings, whatever the vibe that resonates with your zeitgeistwhiskers.
posted by k3ninho at 12:54 AM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
There's a phase other SF authors have gone through where they say 'you know where there's a lot of money? religion!' and ... well, I hope we get to enjoy more of your writing and you're able to flourish on the earnings, whatever the vibe that resonates with your zeitgeistwhiskers.
posted by k3ninho at 12:54 AM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
These people need to get out of Brooklyn once in a while. Like, at least go to Queens, or Valley Stream or something.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:49 AM on February 18, 2022
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:49 AM on February 18, 2022
I am old enough now that if I like something, it automatically becomes uncool. I try to use this power for good rather than evil.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 5:26 AM on February 18, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 5:26 AM on February 18, 2022 [6 favorites]
"No matter how New Age you get ... old age is gonna kick your ass."
~Jesse the well digger via Utah Phillips
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 9:13 AM on February 18, 2022
~Jesse the well digger via Utah Phillips
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 9:13 AM on February 18, 2022
For anybody else grappling (and failing) with rorgy's comment, I asked a plugged-in mid-20s friend to read it and help me out, here's what he had to say (with some slight paraphrasing by me):
Post-flight irony is the combination of two elements where either it's unclear whether one element should be taken as irony or not and the other is something ridiculous or bizarre being taken as literal.
In terms of post-flight irony, this part of the comment really helps define the word: "You get this outside of explicit "culture" too, in the way that woke atheists sometimes seem like they're on the verge of re-inventing the worst parts of puritanical Protestantism, or even in how a sports meme like the Dilly Ducks find themselves totally acting like something out of an Augustine Bruges play."
With the "woke atheist" stuff, there is an atheist+ community, separate from regular atheists. You could basically call them "progressive atheists". The skeptic community also got wrapped up in atheism. It turned into a mess which caused a huge shift in the where the atheist+ became kind of like a new religion. It's almost an anti-progress movement dressed in progressivism because if you disagree even the slightest with the orthodox views, you are piled on and pilloried like a religious zealot would non-believers. His next sentence "Adorno for teens" I believe is intended to express how TikTok is a platform of a young rebelling society. They're referring to Theodore Adorno, a German anti-capitalist philosopher that played a role in the Frankfurt school and expanded upon Marxism with a new lens (race, sex, etc). He was basically one of the fathers of critical theory. I've noticed that zoomers have a lot of sympathy for this kind of thought.
Regarding the rest of the comment, rorgy is discussing a music genre with sub-genres I haven't heard of before, but if I had to narrow it down, they're emphasizing how art mediums tend to lose meaning and sometimes even conflict with their roots.
A great example is hip hop. East Coast/classic hip hop, which is the original style, is focused on emphasizing ways to overcome, adapt, or pass down knowledge about ways to deal with the problems the artists were facing. The lyrics and song writing are the emphasis. West Coast hip hop evolved into more focus on power fantasies and over-exaggeration. This is obvious in gangsta rap, which is effectively fantasizing about being a criminal. NWA is a prime example. Obviously they don't actually want to be criminals but their music and attitude was an escape to a hard childhood life they experienced. In contrast to East Coast, West Coast hip hop has more of a focus on simple lyrics and instrumentals to further invest in their power fantasy. West Coast trends toward escape, East Coast trends toward dealing with the reality.
Trap music takes the trend away from lyricism even further - it's mostly just embracing the tempo, instruments and flow. It's meant to be a distraction or escape as opposed to carrying meaning. There's nothing insightful about the music. Lyrics are irrelevant or nearly so. Future's music comes to mind. 21 Savage is another.
So we've gone from handling reality to escaping it with fantasies of power to escape which eclipses meaning entirely, effectively subverting the genre.
In general, genres in music change once a trend has a massive following, but a lot of the time the people responsible for the original sound are sidelined and forgotten. Drake's recent songs have a Memphis style tempo and he's credited for his flow when he in reality he is only mimicking it. This is apparent in the song "Non Stop" where he uses a sample but speeds the instrumental from the song "My head is Spinning" from 1995.
To truly summarize, I believe rorgy is referencing how trends tend to ruin the original purpose of an art form. Be it music genre, artistic pieces, ideological beliefs, and that a popular trend ends up being a total contradiction to it's roots or origin. I'm sure they'll correct me if I missed something.
posted by zug at 9:22 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Post-flight irony is the combination of two elements where either it's unclear whether one element should be taken as irony or not and the other is something ridiculous or bizarre being taken as literal.
In terms of post-flight irony, this part of the comment really helps define the word: "You get this outside of explicit "culture" too, in the way that woke atheists sometimes seem like they're on the verge of re-inventing the worst parts of puritanical Protestantism, or even in how a sports meme like the Dilly Ducks find themselves totally acting like something out of an Augustine Bruges play."
With the "woke atheist" stuff, there is an atheist+ community, separate from regular atheists. You could basically call them "progressive atheists". The skeptic community also got wrapped up in atheism. It turned into a mess which caused a huge shift in the where the atheist+ became kind of like a new religion. It's almost an anti-progress movement dressed in progressivism because if you disagree even the slightest with the orthodox views, you are piled on and pilloried like a religious zealot would non-believers. His next sentence "Adorno for teens" I believe is intended to express how TikTok is a platform of a young rebelling society. They're referring to Theodore Adorno, a German anti-capitalist philosopher that played a role in the Frankfurt school and expanded upon Marxism with a new lens (race, sex, etc). He was basically one of the fathers of critical theory. I've noticed that zoomers have a lot of sympathy for this kind of thought.
Regarding the rest of the comment, rorgy is discussing a music genre with sub-genres I haven't heard of before, but if I had to narrow it down, they're emphasizing how art mediums tend to lose meaning and sometimes even conflict with their roots.
A great example is hip hop. East Coast/classic hip hop, which is the original style, is focused on emphasizing ways to overcome, adapt, or pass down knowledge about ways to deal with the problems the artists were facing. The lyrics and song writing are the emphasis. West Coast hip hop evolved into more focus on power fantasies and over-exaggeration. This is obvious in gangsta rap, which is effectively fantasizing about being a criminal. NWA is a prime example. Obviously they don't actually want to be criminals but their music and attitude was an escape to a hard childhood life they experienced. In contrast to East Coast, West Coast hip hop has more of a focus on simple lyrics and instrumentals to further invest in their power fantasy. West Coast trends toward escape, East Coast trends toward dealing with the reality.
Trap music takes the trend away from lyricism even further - it's mostly just embracing the tempo, instruments and flow. It's meant to be a distraction or escape as opposed to carrying meaning. There's nothing insightful about the music. Lyrics are irrelevant or nearly so. Future's music comes to mind. 21 Savage is another.
So we've gone from handling reality to escaping it with fantasies of power to escape which eclipses meaning entirely, effectively subverting the genre.
In general, genres in music change once a trend has a massive following, but a lot of the time the people responsible for the original sound are sidelined and forgotten. Drake's recent songs have a Memphis style tempo and he's credited for his flow when he in reality he is only mimicking it. This is apparent in the song "Non Stop" where he uses a sample but speeds the instrumental from the song "My head is Spinning" from 1995.
To truly summarize, I believe rorgy is referencing how trends tend to ruin the original purpose of an art form. Be it music genre, artistic pieces, ideological beliefs, and that a popular trend ends up being a total contradiction to it's roots or origin. I'm sure they'll correct me if I missed something.
posted by zug at 9:22 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I find all this talk of blood oranges a wee bit pretentious.
Frankly I think it’s disgusting that people don’t care whether their oranges are funding conflicts in developing countries.
posted by atoxyl at 9:44 AM on February 18, 2022 [6 favorites]
Frankly I think it’s disgusting that people don’t care whether their oranges are funding conflicts in developing countries.
posted by atoxyl at 9:44 AM on February 18, 2022 [6 favorites]
I saw a Members Only jacket yesterday walking through my neighborhood — was the jacket 20 years too late, 40 years too late, or right on time?
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:46 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:46 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Member's Only jackets were back 10-15 years ago after kids decided Hall & Oates was an important band to remember. You saw a relic of a past resurgence! Or a trend-setter for the next one, in about 10 years.
posted by rhizome at 10:03 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 10:03 AM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Be it music genre, artistic pieces, ideological beliefs, and that a popular trend ends up being a total contradiction to it's roots or origin.
Is TikTok contradicting original Adorno?
posted by clew at 10:12 AM on February 18, 2022
Is TikTok contradicting original Adorno?
posted by clew at 10:12 AM on February 18, 2022
low rise jeans are coming back in style. Kill me now
Flares are also back, yet again.
posted by aspersioncast at 11:08 AM on February 18, 2022
Flares are also back, yet again.
posted by aspersioncast at 11:08 AM on February 18, 2022
Member's Only jackets were back 10-15 years ago
This sounds right but I checked a calendar and, yup, I was in college 20 years ago when everyone was rocking MO jackets. Maybe they’re just always in now, like weed or Fleetwood Mac.
posted by wemayfreeze at 12:24 PM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
This sounds right but I checked a calendar and, yup, I was in college 20 years ago when everyone was rocking MO jackets. Maybe they’re just always in now, like weed or Fleetwood Mac.
posted by wemayfreeze at 12:24 PM on February 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
I was thinking I was underestimating, but I thought for sure it came *after* the "white belt" era.
posted by rhizome at 1:59 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 1:59 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
And the marketing people use the irony...
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:13 PM on February 18, 2022
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:13 PM on February 18, 2022
I was thinking I was underestimating, but I thought for sure it came *after* the "white belt" era. As someone with a MO jacket AND a white belt in 2003 … 😂
I have no doubt the fashions were experienced differently in different spots around the world. No clue where Wester Mass fits in the overall hipster spread, but that's one data point. I also don't think it matters much, or that eras can be that cleanly defined.
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:37 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have no doubt the fashions were experienced differently in different spots around the world. No clue where Wester Mass fits in the overall hipster spread, but that's one data point. I also don't think it matters much, or that eras can be that cleanly defined.
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:37 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
At some point you have to just enjoy the things you enjoy and be cool enough to let others enjoy the things they enjoy. Also, accept the fact that things change and that people will judge. If you're unable to enjoy something because you're worried about what someone else might think, that's the worst. Like Tower of Power says, "hipness is, what it is, and sometimes hipness is what it ain't." Also, our capitalist consumer society thrives on insecurity and trend chasing etc. etc. I hope the kids are getting all the Adorno and Debord and whoever is the newer hipper more prescient cultural critic feels.
posted by nikoniko at 11:22 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nikoniko at 11:22 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
BTW I'm super uncool towards edge lords that enjoy white supremacist power electronic microgenres and incel misogynist nonsense etc. Or any of that SWERFY TERFY bullshit. But I've never claimed to be cool, hip, or vibey, so who cares.
posted by nikoniko at 11:30 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nikoniko at 11:30 PM on February 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
The original as far as I know (much love to the memories of both Blossom and Bob).
posted by Lexica at 3:46 PM on February 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Lexica at 3:46 PM on February 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Huh - and all these years I thought Dave Frishberg wrote it...
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:39 PM on February 19, 2022
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:39 PM on February 19, 2022
I find the Blossom version to be the most ironic :P Gotta keep with the spirit of the thread!
posted by rhizome at 5:51 PM on February 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 5:51 PM on February 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by timdiggerm at 11:20 AM on February 16, 2022 [16 favorites]