My Tiny New Beatles Review
I was reading an old essay this morning about the Beach Boys written by Jules Siegel and in it Siegel was talking about the "put-down" in certain pop-music reviews (and this was like 1967 or something) and how common it was to see put-downs in pop-music reviews because journalists felt it somehow demonstrated their objectivity as a writer, to put-down the artist. As in, "I'm not a fan." It was also "hip to be insincere" at that time and nobody wanted to be caught being sincere. After decades of it I guess Siegel quotes a writer who asked, "who needs all this goddamn intense sincerity all the time?" There were reasons for the insincerity craze, but it sort of dismissed The Beach Boys who seemed too square and awfully sincere when compared to the Beatles. The same writer tells Siegel, "this year it is hip to be sincere." Because who needs all that oppressive insincerity all the time? But, it turns out, this is just as bad as th...