At one point, in the UK at least, it seemed that style mattered far more than substance for successful bands and artists.
But in 2021, in the online age, I wonder whether it's still true.
It was a BBC article about a band from Wigan with a chart-topping album that prompted my question. Now, there was a time when someone like this--without a carefully contrived, fashion-friendly 'image'--would have stood little chance in the charts.
Any thoughts?
The Lathums: Wigan indie band score debut number one album - BBC News
The Brits had this thing called "twee" that scooped up many. Is twee a relevant category anymore? In the US, there was grunge and in the UK, there was shoe gaze and also dream pop. It all seemed related to me because of My Bloody Valentine. Have all those categorisations been now digested and absorbed to the point of them just being part of pop culture at last?
The Lathums remind me of 'The Smiths" 👍.. pleasant but a bit too safe for my tastes
Hey, I watched the video. Nice song. It reminded me of XTC a little, maybe.
Nice instruments. Quite a setup the drummer's got. The drummer's also got his Fred Perry polo buttoned to the top.
It also reminded me of Death and the Maiden by The Verlaines from 1983 . . .
Alex Moore looks like many Millennials and maybe grunge in the '90s made it so lumberjack flannel shirts hanging out with with rumpled up jeans are just fine? I think of John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival as being the person who should be credited as starting the grunge look and that was back in the mid 1960s. Just a lumberjack with a Beatle hairstyle as far as I can tell.
It reminds me of wondertoy reminding me about that guy from the Byrds, Roger McGuinn. When I expressed my admiration for the Three O'Clock, a band popular when I was a teenager, he said, "Who wants to dress like Roger McGuinn?" The Three O'Clock seemed a bit more dandy than that! His thing was Cheap Trick. I'm not knocking Cheap Trick, but what's so great about their image? The Bowery Boys guy? I guess that's cool. Not my cuppa. Whatever mode of dressing that gets you to feel good enough about yourself to make great music is the best image for you.