May 22, 2011

NOISE QUEEN, 1997 piece

Hanson Vs Velvet Underground - MMMbop/Sister Ray Medley to the Death


By Tim Murphy

There are eerie parallels between these two groups that cannot be discounted easily, much as you might desperately try to. In the name of revealing truth, and as proof that my job is both boring and brain-damaging, I present you with the inevitable skewed comparisons I thought of while there...



(1) Each has been captured on film by a gay director.


(2) They are on PolyGram Records, as are the Velvets.



(3) Hanson has a blonde, long-haired singer with an odd voice, much like Nico of the Velvets.



(4) Hanson are a bunch of kids singing simple, catchy harmonies; Lou Reed started in a doo-wop group as a teenager.



(5) Hanson has immeasurable talent, as do the Velvets (there may be sarcasm in effect on one side of this equation).



(6) Both have had string arrangements on their songs.



(7) Each has a long, depressing song about isolation with deathly overtones on its debut album.



(8) Each mentions a deity in its lyrics.



(9) Aspersions have been cast on the instrumental skills of both bands.



(10) Hanson are cute, as was Lou Reed in his heyday (subjective, I know).



(11) Image and voice wise, members of both bands have been gender-misidentified.



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