The sad truth is that too much Smiths is a losing endeavor. I will love the Smiths forever and ever but it never does me any favors. Does liking the Smiths make me more attractive/sensitive to girls? NO because girls who like the Smiths are either hideously boring LA girls who like them so they can appear arty and knowledgeable, and my liking them is like who cares, we all like the Smiths just as we all like coke and Jeremy Piven or whatever OR they are the chicks who were WAY too into the Smiths all their lives and thus are emotionally arrested, more than a little pathetic and obviously cutters. Does liking the Smiths make me more down with the dudes? NO because dudes who like the Smiths are exactly like me but with microscopic gradations of difference re: how into the Smiths, gay, or histrionically self-obsessed they are. And of course the fundamental contradiction is that being a Smiths fan is intensely personal ("I am the ONLY one who TRULY understands Morrissey"), which does not translate into the public realm ("man there are SO MANY fat guys at this show wearing original Kill Uncle tour shirts") and so you have a crowd of oversensitive dudes who hate talking to each other because everyone reminds everyone of themselves too much. I realized all this too late -- I'm pretty sycophantic for the Smiths and probably always will be, partly because people who love the Smiths are inherently attracted to destructive relationships. The main difference is that instead of Morrissey beating you up, he leads by example as to how you can beat yourself up -- which would qualify as sadistic if he didn't also provide the most beautiful music I've ever heard.
- music label: Rhino / 2009
reviewed by Woodman 08/2009