Alternative rock & Britpop (II)
Placebo
Placebo is another very productive band, and a highly controversial one. The theme of their music is more R-rated; a lot of songs involve sex and doing drugs. And the band has often been criticized for their excessive lifestyle and Molko, the lead vocalist’s androgynous image. Putting all their issues aside, we’ve got to admit that Placebo after all is a really talented band. Their creativity in using instruments and the unconventional way of songwriting did grant them a very high place in the Britpop world. What they really trying to express in most of their music is a melancholy feeling and a sense of loss and pain. Here is Follow the Cops Back Home from one of their very popular album Meds.
Peter Doherty/The Libertines
Peter Doherty is an English musician. He first came into prominence with the band The Libertines then after join the band Babyshambles. Besides being a very talented songwriter, he is very famous in tabloid for his excessive drug use. We may focus on the band The Libertines to explore the philosophy of Pete. The style of their music can be very independent, yet in a true sense, uniquely English. For the album The Libertines, the band successfully demonstrates a chaotic, careless, and somehow boyish yet melodic style of music. For this reason, The Libertines has often been compared to the legendary British band The Beatles. The song below is a very melodic piece of work called Music When the Lights Go Out in the album The Libertines.
Besides the bands I have named here, there are many more excellent Britpop bands. Like Keane, Radiohead, Suede, Arctic Monkeys and the Arcade Fire from Canada. Some of the key characters you can find in a Britpop band are cynical, liberal, anarchic, chaotic, emotional, and for a few very popular bands (Placebo, Suede etc.), vague in sexuality and excessive drug use. I say they are dreamers, the criticizer of our time. With a guitar, a bass and a set of drums, they write their pains and desires. Somehow it’s like they are not bound in the machinery of our society, that’s why they always can provide a fresh look on the way life is on this planet. May the Britpop continues to thrive and amuses, enlightens, educates all of us.
