Comments on: Nerdcore and the New York Dolls http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:20:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: ChurchHatesTucker http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/#comment-31 ChurchHatesTucker Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:49:20 +0000 http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/#comment-31 Interesting. While I largely agree with Z, I think that the Dolls and Nerdcore are ultimately in the same space. In both cases you have a bunch of people saying, essentially, "OK, forget what everyone else is doing. New rules." The advantage NC has is that the core audience has been doing that for their whole lives anyway, so they don't have to be sold on the idea. Interesting. While I largely agree with Z, I think that the Dolls and Nerdcore are ultimately in the same space. In both cases you have a bunch of people saying, essentially, “OK, forget what everyone else is doing. New rules.” The advantage NC has is that the core audience has been doing that for their whole lives anyway, so they don’t have to be sold on the idea.

]]> By: Matt http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/#comment-20 Matt Thu, 18 Jan 2007 04:16:06 +0000 http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/#comment-20 You know, that occurred to me after I had posted my message. Specifically the idea that being a geek means that you don't need to be cool. A lot of stuff here, you'll probably find, is just me working things out in my head in a public space. Or then again, may be I shouldn't post when I should be in bed. Kinda like tonight for instance. :) You know, that occurred to me after I had posted my message. Specifically the idea that being a geek means that you don’t need to be cool.

A lot of stuff here, you’ll probably find, is just me working things out in my head in a public space.

Or then again, may be I shouldn’t post when I should be in bed. Kinda like tonight for instance. :)

]]> By: Z. http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/#comment-19 Z. Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:29:44 +0000 http://tsuibhne.net/2007/01/16/nerdcore-and-the-new-york-dolls/#comment-19 I think that there’s an interesting dynamic between the nerdcore community and the “haters” that, while it certainly doesn’t render the genre impervious to harm, does make it a bit more bulletproof. Much like the Dolls, the nerdcore ethic is rooted in a duality of flash and substance, of music and mechanism. The show is the music and the music is the show; the whole package goes together, and separating one from the other is often problematic. Just as Thunders and Johansen caricatured themselves through their outlandish dress – the NYD were, after all, a collection of refreshingly sloppy, over-the-top personalities expressing themselves musically; the makeup and torn fishnets merely took these defining traits to the next (il)logical level of visual representation – Frontalot and Doc Pop play up their inherent nerdiness through appearance and mannerism. The difference, and the defense mechanism to which I originally referred, lies in the nerdiness of the community and its denizens. When a journalist or scenester dismissed the Dolls, it was often in the spirit of condescension: “This is a gimmick” or “These guys are talentless." The Dolls continued undeterred, because the boys and their fans understood that they were merely too far ahead of the rock ‘n’ roll curve for the masses to take note. They were, in a sense, hyper-hip. Nerdcore, consequently, is nega-hip. When a journalist (or a forum troll, for that matter) states “This is lame” of “This is obviously a joke,” who are we to argue? These admissions simply serve to signal that the parties involved just don’t get it. The fact that the genre is rooted in ostracism is the perfect out! It’s not supposed to be cool in a traditional sense. Furthermore, if you don’t get it and assume it’s all some ironic hoax, that doesn’t make the scene wrong; it merely makes it that much more a haven for the marginalized geeks for which it was intended. Whereas the New York Dolls relied on their ability to redefine what cool was, nerdcore goes the opposite direction. By embracing what is patently uncool, geek music actively thumbs its collective nose at notions of hipster propriety. Those who try to quantify it in relation to such serve simply to demonstrate their own staggering level of misunderstanding. I think that there’s an interesting dynamic between the nerdcore community and the “haters” that, while it certainly doesn’t render the genre impervious to harm, does make it a bit more bulletproof.

Much like the Dolls, the nerdcore ethic is rooted in a duality of flash and substance, of music and mechanism. The show is the music and the music is the show; the whole package goes together, and separating one from the other is often problematic. Just as Thunders and Johansen caricatured themselves through their outlandish dress – the NYD were, after all, a collection of refreshingly sloppy, over-the-top personalities expressing themselves musically; the makeup and torn fishnets merely took these defining traits to the next (il)logical level of visual representation – Frontalot and Doc Pop play up their inherent nerdiness through appearance and mannerism.

The difference, and the defense mechanism to which I originally referred, lies in the nerdiness of the community and its denizens. When a journalist or scenester dismissed the Dolls, it was often in the spirit of condescension: “This is a gimmick” or “These guys are talentless.” The Dolls continued undeterred, because the boys and their fans understood that they were merely too far ahead of the rock ‘n’ roll curve for the masses to take note. They were, in a sense, hyper-hip.

Nerdcore, consequently, is nega-hip. When a journalist (or a forum troll, for that matter) states “This is lame” of “This is obviously a joke,” who are we to argue? These admissions simply serve to signal that the parties involved just don’t get it.

The fact that the genre is rooted in ostracism is the perfect out! It’s not supposed to be cool in a traditional sense. Furthermore, if you don’t get it and assume it’s all some ironic hoax, that doesn’t make the scene wrong; it merely makes it that much more a haven for the marginalized geeks for which it was intended.

Whereas the New York Dolls relied on their ability to redefine what cool was, nerdcore goes the opposite direction. By embracing what is patently uncool, geek music actively thumbs its collective nose at notions of hipster propriety. Those who try to quantify it in relation to such serve simply to demonstrate their own staggering level of misunderstanding.

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