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This is impossible to answer because if I'm wrong about it I don't know that I'm wrong about it
Tom wrote this in his Guardian column on the subject of what critics might be wrong about now:
The answer isn't likely to be some crazy underground music: it'll be hiding in plain sight, probably popular but not completely mainstream, dismissed because we think we've already got its number.
Then he added on his Tumblr:
Other stuff I was thinking of (or which was suggested to me) here: teenpop, Latin pop (Jonathan Bogart's suggestion and I suspect a good one), and the whole OTHER hardcore continuum - hardcore/happy hardcore/hard house/'scouse house'/donk/'clubland' etc.
To which I replied:
But wait, you're surrounded by rock critics who LOVE teenpop and go over it with a fine-toothed comb. And you're surrounded by critics who love Scooter. You'll ALWAYS find critics willing to plump for the proles and plump for the bubblegum (not that teenpop has been bubblegum for years, but only the people who have their ear to it know that). As for Latin pop, the problem is more that not many of the critics you pay attention to pay attention to it, not that they're wrong about it. But some who do pay attention to it do sometimes show up on ilX (including Rolling Country every now and then).
Obviously, if it's something we're wrong about we won't know what it is, because we're wrong about it. Ballads, smooth jazz, adult contemporary, urban AC. Not that I necessarily think that we're wrong about it, given that I don't listen to it much and that's 'cause I don't think I'll like it, and I don't think I'm wrong to think it's not very good. But if you're looking for what's hiding in plain sight, that's where you look. Michael Bublé. I mean, I thought his last single sucked.
The answer isn't likely to be some crazy underground music: it'll be hiding in plain sight, probably popular but not completely mainstream, dismissed because we think we've already got its number.
Then he added on his Tumblr:
Other stuff I was thinking of (or which was suggested to me) here: teenpop, Latin pop (Jonathan Bogart's suggestion and I suspect a good one), and the whole OTHER hardcore continuum - hardcore/happy hardcore/hard house/'scouse house'/donk/'clubland' etc.
To which I replied:
But wait, you're surrounded by rock critics who LOVE teenpop and go over it with a fine-toothed comb. And you're surrounded by critics who love Scooter. You'll ALWAYS find critics willing to plump for the proles and plump for the bubblegum (not that teenpop has been bubblegum for years, but only the people who have their ear to it know that). As for Latin pop, the problem is more that not many of the critics you pay attention to pay attention to it, not that they're wrong about it. But some who do pay attention to it do sometimes show up on ilX (including Rolling Country every now and then).
Obviously, if it's something we're wrong about we won't know what it is, because we're wrong about it. Ballads, smooth jazz, adult contemporary, urban AC. Not that I necessarily think that we're wrong about it, given that I don't listen to it much and that's 'cause I don't think I'll like it, and I don't think I'm wrong to think it's not very good. But if you're looking for what's hiding in plain sight, that's where you look. Michael Bublé. I mean, I thought his last single sucked.
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I could ask the Brits on
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Apparently, I am "not authorized to view this protected entry." What does Dave say? (I did just check the two Xgau CG's on his site -- a C+ and a B- -- though those are mediocre grades, not devastating ones. And may or may not be typical -- though, yeah, C+/B- sounds about right to me.)
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Anyhow, I'm going to assume that Dave doesn't mind your seeing what I wrote, and reprint it:
Well, to provide some perspective, not a single Fall Out Boy song or album has ever been touched (even to pan it) on Pitchfork. New York Times has covered Fall Out Boy in the past to mixed but generally favorable reviews, and my sense is that they are for the most part ignored in most places where reviewers would get too huffy about 'em.
Actually, Xgau himself on FOB is kind of interesting for its semi-parallels to his Sabbath pans:
From Under the Cork Tree (2005)
Stuck between pretentious young purists who believe catchy love songs betray their hardcore heritage and eager younger fans who believe catchy love songs fulfill their teenthrob destiny, these Warped Tour cover boys aren't terrible, but are they ever ordinary. Only their record company would claim that emotional vocals, dramatic dynamics, poppy-punky tempos, and not actually all that catchy tunes add up to "their own sound." They have some talent, they're cute, and they work hard. Thus they get to pretend that "Douse yourself in cheap perfume it's/So fitting of the way you are" is a lyric for the ages, a/k/a next week. [C+]
Folie a Deux (2008)
Admittedly, the two classic lines Pete Wentz comes up with here--"Imperfect boys with their perfect lives" and the cheeky Nirvana cop "I don't care what you think as long as it's about me"--reflect the new thematic legitimacy of superstar self-pity in an era when fans would rather envy their musical heroes than identify with them. But that doesn't mean non-fans should feel obliged to get with the program. Low-tune for a pop band, low-momentum for a rock band, they stand a chance of evoking bad Elvis Costello when they take you by surprise or emote on in the background. In fact, when Mr. C. himself makes a shock-horror guest appearance, he's surprisingly hard to tell from Patrick Stumpf. Which is weird, disturbing--especially for Mr. C. [B-]
Personally agree with Xgau on both counts (except for the "envy musical heroes than identify with them" bit), I've never understood FOB at all. I've always thought that they feel like molasses and taste like high-fructose corn syrup.
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Anyway, Fall Out Boy's music was at least liked by enough critics for them to score a #30 Pazz & Jop single ("Sugar, We're Going Down", which got 20 points) in 2005. Which is certainly more than lots of other hit '00s acts I can name.
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