Foxboro Hot Tubs | Stop Drop and Roll!!!Empty Bottle Evenings

Sep152015September 15, 2015September 15, 2015No Commentby Bake

Foxboro Hot Tubs | Stop Drop and Roll!!!

Posted in Music

This week music “news” was made as asshole musician Jack White continued his mostly one-sided fight against Black Keys musicians Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, who are presumably not as much of assholes. According to Rolling Stone, there have actually been a few petty incidents over the years but this so called “beef” is now over. What did anyone learn? That Jack White is a pretentious prick. No, what did we learn? Nothing, probably, other than that White seems pissed that The Black Keys have sort of ripped him off and maybe don’t belong on his level. Which is of course ridiculous. Not because some of their songs don’t sound like stuff that White had already recorded (because they do), but because White built a fucking career on ripping off garage rock from 30 decades earlier. You think you’re the only person who can copy someone else’s music? What an asshole!

The White Stripes may have been the best (you be the judge, I can’t be unbiased on this) but it’s not like they were solo trailblazers. Well, not trailblazers, that implies they weren’t just recyling just recycling music from the mid 70s and repackaging it. Let’s say they weren’t the only “re-inventers” as anyone who listened to the radio, watched MTV, or subscribed to SPIN (yes, that’s what people did at the turn of the millenium!) were overloaded by bands like The Strokes, The Hives, The Vines, Franz Ferdinand, and eventually The Black Keys in the earlys 2000s. They all sounded close enough both in music and band names and it kind of wore down everyone. If Jack White wants to be the king of them, go ahead, no one probably would give a shit. But you’ve changed and The Black Keys changed, so let’s just leave all that in the past… in that box in our closet with all those SPIN magazines and maybe a few pornos mixed in. Okay, probably more than a few. Shut up, you don’t know what living with dial-up was like!

Anyway, this “controversy” made me think of that weird time for mainstream garage rock re-emergence and I was reminded of the Foxboro Hot Tubs. This was a new band that released their only album Stop Drop and Roll!!! in 2008, which was weird because it was a little late in the garage-rock revival trend. But weirder, okay, much weirder, was that the Foxboro Hot Tubs was just Green Day fucking around. What would possess them to make this album? Boredom, a love for rock n roll, an alcohol. They didn’t do it to capitalize on a trend since it went pretty much under the radar and was released online by the band themselves and they weren’t even charging anything. It was just one of those rare times a world-known artist decided to go off script and say fuck whatever we are supposed to be working on, this seems like fun. Take a listen if you want, I don’t really give a shit either way. And people said Green Day isn’t punk rock.

The album itself is…actually not bad. It sounds like Green Day made a 2000s garage rock album. Sure, there’s a litte Kinks on there, but I think most people would still know what decade it was created in when they took a listen. If you’re a Green Day fan but missed this record it’s pretty similar to Dos! (see “27th Ave Shuffle”). For those who don’t care for Green Day, you’ve probably stopped reading. But if not, it’s a lot more on the indie-ish side of garage rock, not the more bluesy stuff preferred by living genius Jack White, or Auerbach & Carney. Anyway, it’s a pretty damn easy listen and I dare you to check it out. Unless you’ll just get mad that they sound like they’re ripping off someone from the 70s, or the late 90s, or even Green Day, because you’re a moron.