Underrated/Overrated
 

We had a thread like this on the old board. I tried searching for something like this, but the closest thing I could find was a thread on overrated stuff.

Underrated: Abandoned Pools. I remember this band (actually just a vehicle for Tommy Walter) had a couple minor hits in the early part of the decade (2001-02), and everyone said they would be huge, but they kinda went nowhere. My ears keep trying to tell me they're nothing more than an overproduced pop-punk band, but...I dunno, I like them anyway.

Overrated: I've said this before, and I've gotten ripped a new one on here for it, but I'll say it again (and probably get another new one ripped): Tom Waits. Maybe I haven't heard the right songs, but I just don't understand why he's so revered in the underground. He just sounds to me like someone who smokes a carton of cigarettes before entering the recording booth, and the studio he's in doesn't have a single piece of equipment made before 1970.

Regarding Tom Waits. I LOVE Bone Machine. One of my all time favorite albums. But I can hardly stand to listen to anything else he's ever done. He's not bad, but overrated? Definitely.

underrated: Make a Rising. One of the only bands currently out there making music that is truly unique and also extremely pleasing to my ears. No one knows who they are.
overrated: The Breeders. They made one half-decent album 20 years ago and people are still jerking off to them. All their recent stuff is lazy, inconsistent, sounds half-written, and really doesn't have much to it, surely qualities that appeal to pot-smoking "slacker rock" afficianados, but you know what? Kim Deal has proven she can write interesting, entertaining, off-kilter pop songs. Her drug-hazed musings on the last few albums she's made have been terrible. And I don't really care for "Last Splash" either, which has none of the faults I just mentioned but is perhaps even worse -- because it's damn safe and boring.

underrated: Fire on Fire. Coming from the "ashes" (haha) of the amazing (and underrated) Cerberus Shoal, who were the best "freak folk" or whatever band around when they were around... here's the OTHER best "freak folk" band around. I hate the term "freak folk". Either way, perfect fucking songs. The general populace doesn't give a fuck.
overrated: LIARS. This has to be one of the shittiest bands around. As far as a band that has no idea how to properly compose a song properly, here you go. DRUM'S NOT DEAD is a good little album, but how could it not be? It's mainly just tribal drumming and chanting and some production tricks. It'd be hard to fuck that one up (and they almost do, since their drummer isn't that great). But any time they've had to write an actual "song".. you know, with parts that cohesively flow... yeah, they don't know what they're doing.

underrated: Volcano the Bear. Maybe they're not "underrated" in some small circles (circle-jerk circles) but from my point of view, they deserve to be WAY bigger than they are. Truly brilliant, forward-thinking, and awesome. Every listen reveals new subtle nuances. I dunno, I guess I just usually like music that has a bit of thought put into it, unlike ...
overrated: Sunburned Hand of the Man. I've listened to a good 5 albums and can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would give a shit about this band.

underrated: Zazen Boys. Okay, they're one of the # 1 bands in Japan but here no one knows who they are. Either way, they play many different styles of music, and they're just one of the most consistently great bands I can think of. Mixing elements of "math rock", funk, art rock, noise rock, and just an overall weirdness and fierceness, with a very singular vision, that makes their music extremely special, even in its complexities.
overrated: No Age/Deerhunter. Okay, this is a bit obvious, but since I saw them last night, I gotta say: Two completely dull bands.

underrated: Koennjihyakkei. I like RUINS as much as the next guy, but KOENNJIHYAKKEI (and yeah I love them but am probably spelling this wrong) is really where it's at.
overrated: Throbbing Gristle. Okay, I like a few of their albums just fine, and I realize a lot of it was ahead of its time and whatnot. But damn they've also got some of the worst bullshit ever recorded by mankind on some of their albums. Don't get me wrong, they have some songs that I would rank amongst the greatest industrial/"noise" songs ever made, but you really have to wade through a LOT of shit to get to the brilliance...

underrated: Dun. Just one of the best prog bands ever, if not the best. Too bad they only wrote, like, 5 songs.
overrated: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Shit. They sucked (suck?). Lydia, in general, just annoys me. I've heard basically every no wave band ever and this one is easily the least interesting. Meh.

underrated: Stars of the Lid. What? You're kidding, right? No, I'm not -- I think this is easily one of the greatest bands currently in existence. And though they've recieved some acclaim and recognition, they deserve to be waaaaay bigger than they are. Feel free to argue this one.
overrated: Boris. AHHHHH!!!! I love a lot of Boris stuff, but they're in the same field as Throbbing Gristle here. They've released way too much shit, and some of their more "rockin" stuff doesn't do a damn thing for me. FLOOD and ABSOLUTEGO and AMPLIFIER WORSHIP and FEEDBACKER all give me a boner. But of the 600 albums by them, I'd say those 4 are the only ones that are essential. I'm saying they're overrated -- I'm not saying they're a bad band.

underrated: Caroliner. One of the most wacked-out and greatest bands I've ever heard. Brilliant, unique, talented. Every quality you'd want in a band.
overrated: Wolf Eyes. You know what? After 600 releases, and after personally hearing well over 100 (with about 90 of them that suck), I think they can just, uh, stop anyday now.. please?

underrated: TFUL # 282. Goes without saying, but find me another band that is this perfect and I will give you a dollar.
overrated: Bjork. Ugh. I wish her and her stupid husband would go away and never return.

underrated: Slowdive. Well, obviously, they're in my top 10 favorite bands ever. I mean, they may not be underrated in some circles, but compare them to that one shoegaze band known as...
overrated: MY BLOODY VALENTINE. The most overrated band of all time? I don't hate them, again, but they are definitely overrated. A few great songs songs. A few good songs. Most of it is dull.

underrated: Suishou No Fune. I just love this band so much. Did anyone besides a few people on this board give a fuck about prayer for chibi last year? That has to be one of the best albums of all time.
overrated: Dinosaur Jr. See MBV. Like, 2 or 3 good songs.. maybe. Difficult to listen to.

etc.

Well, I won't argue with you whether or not Stars of the Lid are any good, but I will say I have a hard time listening to them without getting drowsy.

massively overrated: pet sounds.

I realize everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but how somebody can say Dinosaur Jr only have MAYBE two or three good songs completely makes my head spin.

~Jeremy~

Oh, and the only songs I like by them were written by Lou.

They just bore the shit out of me. They're so dull and monotonous. Also, I almost always hate guitar solos. Their music is guitar-geek slacker-rock, and just flat-out doesn't appeal to me in the least. I've "tried" to like them; I've given them many chances. They also have two listenable albums and the other, uh, 6 or 7.. well, I'm assuming here, since I've only heard 3 beyond the ones I'd consider "listenable"... yeah... this is an awkward sentence. The 3 others I've heard are almost impossible to like; I don't see how anyone could like something like "Without a Sound" for example.

without a sound sucks. it is the exception to the rule.

I just spun dinosaur, yr living all over me, and green mind trhe other day LOUD and it was the greatest.

I actually have an Abandoned Pools CD somewhere, I'm pretty sure. I know I got it free. And I probably haven't listened to it for several years. Maybe I'll give it another go.

As for Tom Waits, well the man is so prolific, and sometimes I think that works against him. I like some of his stuff, but it usually takes me a while to absorb new material. And by the time I have, he's already off doing something completely different.

I'll have to think about who I think are overrated/ underrated.

The first two bands that cross my mind as underrated are Unwound and Broadcast.

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? It doesn't make his songs any worse. Or better, really.

You like ICP. Even beyond that that, TJ might be one of the most boring No Wave bands, but that's a pretty high bar.


True. It's really hard to get into bands with that many albums. It prevented me from iistening to Sonic Youth for a long time.

huh

underrated: any band that plays Jacksons
overrated: any band that plays Jazzmasters

Demonrail summed it up. There's not much more to say than that.

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks may be one of the least interesting No Wave groups, but calling them overrated is a stretch.

I'm just sayin', they are one of the worst no wave bands.. but the one that gets talked about the most. That seems "overrated" to me.

Allhands...^^ maybe not on MTV, but in the Non-Sonic Sounds section they bloody well are.

Under-rated: Good band, small.
Over-rated: Other band, large.

U: Jakob Ullman
O: Haydn.

U: DJ SY
O: Billy Bunter

U: Tystion
O: Llybr Llaethog.

teenage jesus & the jerks are my favourite no wave band, it's taken almost 10 years for me to arrive at that conclusion though

yeah yeah yeahs are my favorite no wave band

Yeah yeah yeahs aren't fucking no wave.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are awful. The only song I've heard that I liked is "Maps"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are, like, shit-garage-pop-rock or something. I don't even know. They suck.

i always thought that robert johnson was overrated. he never really did anything for me. and people like bukka white, charlie patton, blind lemo jefferson etc are way way better....

as for underrated, there are a lot. but it really depends who i am talking to. if im here than lots of great musicians are pretty appreciated, but in the real world than sun city girls os mutantes and most of the bands discussed here are not even underrrated since they are simply unknown (i am talking about in israel of course)
one thing i will say though, Ros Sereysothea is an amazing singer and should be talked about more. cambodian psychedelic is amazing, and should be talked aobut more. not sre what should be said, but it is fantastic.

Underrated = Stereolab...

... in the sense that they are sooooo fucking good and are not international superstars.

I thought they were.

I'm talking Hannah Montana big.

ohhh.

word on stereolab. i think emperor tomato ketchup is one of the best albums of the last 20 years

underrated: Jimi Hendrix. sure people love foxey lady and purple haze, and even occassionaly know izabella, but do they know machine gun? Room Full of Mirrors? If 6 was 9? Coming in From the Storm? jimi gets so much love, but in my opinion, his best work goes relatively unnoticed, even by fans! A say Jimi Hendrix is the most underrated artist to get so big and popular.

overrated: The Beatles: Yeah, sure, EVERYONE of your favorite bands grew up listening to beatles albums, every good artist in influenced by them blah blah woof woof. but honestly, they fucking suck! that shit is candy pop to me, and even worse ingenuious psychedelica.. lame

yyy's are terrible...it was a joke...i thought they popped up on some "documentary" about no-wave or some shit

yyys are hipstergothposturingcore. and also overrated. though i do enjoy them. their EPs are underrated and their full lengths are massively overrated.

i've always kinda wondered why they were even included in a no wave doc. is it because they're from new york and karen o. might have taken some style tips from l. lynch and a. phillips? ny and ripped stockings does not a no waver make.

overrated - buttsecks

underrated - catholic guilt sex

Overrated: Fugazi
Underrated: Chris and Cosey
Great synth-pop, almost as good as New Order and better than Depeche Mode.

underrated: interpol, this band is mainstream but I don't think that they got enough love as they deserve. good tunes. innovative guitar work, nice edge blended with some mellowness, its like everything that was good about nirvana but sounds NOTHING like them. I love it, except for the middle album, its aight, but TOTBL and OLTA are absolute gems.

overrated: The Smiths, blah blah my feelings are hurt woof woof so I'm gonna cry about it and occassionaly throw in some decent guitars, but mostly I'm gonna be all emo all the time. get over yourselves! and smiths fans are fucking WORSE than DEADHEADS!

I agree. Although I've only heard a few tunes, I was completely blown away by these guys. After seeing their live videos on YouTube, I am making it a personal goal of mine to catch a show.



I'd have to say that Dino Jr. are underrated, if anything. Especially with all the hate that goes around for the entire post-Bug, pre-Beyond era.



Personally, I love Mule Variations.

Yeah, it wasn't a no wave doc, it was a "current shitty bands from New York doc". There was nothing no wave after the first 20 minutes. Kinda sad.

Overrated: The Stooges

yeah... kill me if you want...

Overated: Sigur Ros, Mogwai and Godspeed..they just drone on and on mostly on one riff/chord with all their delay pedals on and i just don't get how this is anything new or exciting.

Wrong.

Don't forget there wasn't tom yorke and vocoders back then ;-) and there was no beck with his mighty layering skillzzz.....