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We know what you’re thinking, but how could we not go with that headline? Hey, we didn’t name the band the Pillow Queens - we just work with what y’all give us. It seems that the New Year’s resolutions of local bands was to finally give it up, and so the Pillow Queens are jumping on the bandwagon and declaring tomorrow night’s show at Trailer Space their final fling. Guess they weren’t too KooKooLegit to quit. According to Patrick Caldwell of the Statesman, the Pillow Queens was an “energized, spastic rock ‘n’ roll band that combined a keen ear for pop hooks with the loose proto-punk appeal of Television” and “Co-front man Will Slack’s gruff vocals made an ideal pairing with the goes-down-easy croon of Duncan Malashock” - which is a description we like as it’s almost exactly how we described them when we reviewed the album: “Their cool blend of witty, dark humor and spastic rock and roll is addictively entertaining…Weaves its way through the catchy sounds of 70’s pop music but remembers to pull in the energized sound of proto-punk groups like Television…Switching between the gruff, southern growl of co-frontman Will Slack and the smooth croon of his partner Duncan Malashock.”
We know Patrick, words are hard, but you pull this shit all the time on any number of writers both local and national. Sure, some music reviewing overlap is expected (how could it not be, really!?), but we’ve seen this from you since you were doing the same hack schtick at the Daily Texan. (Seems like we remember an entire Golden Bear feature article that was ridiculously replicative of the Chronicle’s feature on that band that ran a month before. The DT article is not online anymore, though - a shame). We know print is dying, but you are getting paid, right? So come up with some insight of your own. So, just to make you aware, Patrick, we are reading your shit, and we read a lot of other shit too, and we would love to start a weekly (or maybe even daily!) feature of “Who is Patrick Caldwell copying now?”
But to return to our point - The Pillow Queens are quitting because Duncan apparently has bigger and better things to do, and the show at Trailer Space will start at 7:00 and also have Dave Israel and You and Me on the bill. (Not you and me, personally).
Too F-ing Funny!
Is this the same Patrick Caldwell that was disappointed by Jay Reatard’s 45-minute set (!) that ended in a fight? His response should be on par with Vanilla Ice’s ‘Behind the Music’: “IT’s NOT THE SAME!”
Poor kid. When he does try to be marginally original he ends up either sounding like Joe Gross (his laughable Vampire Weekend review) or gets it all wrong (Double Trouble’s “Been A Long Time” as one of the top ten albums of the decade. Seriously?!!).
Yep. That’s the one. If they ever figure out a way to let publicists post directly to the Statesman’s blog, he’s going to be out of a job.
That seemed highly unnecessary.
Sorry to see the Pillow Queens go, though.
Fellas, come on. This is not a good look.
I know all the involved parties and can assure you Patrick is no biter. As anyone that’s ever actually run a department can attest to, the job is to put up content quickly and efficiently. Most bands have two to three angles and that’s it.
If Patrick doesn’t listen to this band or care about this band but is contractually obligated to write about this band when news breaks, the Television comparison is not stealing a scoop or idea or style or thought, but putting up a selling point.
Until any further evidence comes to light, I have to chock this up to petty haterade.
Also, the dude from Matador putting the writer publicly on blast was likewise a bad look.
And publicists commenting on blogs is also a bad look.
You get a quick review elevated to national media and the thanks you give is to bitch about the angle and break the fourth wall by talking trash on a write up you suck all sorts of dicks to produce. Shameful.
But publicists are all failed writer idiots anyway.
Looks to me like Austin Sound is just pissed that Patrick Caldwell took the band’s one angle (as mentioned by Ramon) and wrote it in a way that is much more pleasing than how AS put it. Jealousy is an ugly color, Austin Sound. As a fellow music writer, your pissiness and pussiness is laughable, yet shameful.
@ Ramon “This is not a good look.” What are you talking about - that picture of the Pillow Queens is lovely!
Patrick is an all-around great writer, and I highly doubt he read and was influenced by your review of the Pillow Queens. Did critics accuse each other of plagarism last year when they all said Girls sounded like Elvis Costello, Buddy Holly, and the Beach Boys? No, because it’s a comparison that makes sense, and any decent music critic should know his/her history enough to make comparisons that make sense.
And Patrick’s review of the Jay Reatard show said nothing bout being disappointed in Jay himself - he said that it ending via fight was a buzzkill to an otherwise great performance. A perfectly legitimate thing to write about as an objective critic of a show.
Don’t be dicks, Austin Sound, respect a fellow critic who happened to have a similar critical ear to something you posted once.
We can all agree it is a fine picture.
Austin Sound, for the record I think you all do a fine, fine job and I enjoy refreshing your website repeatedly.
“Don’t be dicks” seems like solid advice.
rock critic cock fight!
Had you responded to these comments with actual passion and intelligence regarding the topic at hand I’d have more respect for you. Instead, you chose feigned nonchalance. Transparent, but props on showcasing you have no balls, guys.
Really now, read the two statements. Same words, same bands, he didn’t even change the sentence structure (or the order in which the bands appear). He substituted a few of his own adjectives. I’m not saying this is plagarism, but it borders on it. I think I did something similar once years ago with an essay I wrote on Shakespeare. The prof didn’t catch me, but if they did, I would have certainly failed.
Honestly, the phrasing from both AS and Caldwell probably came pretty directly from a press release. I doubt AS was the first to compare the group to Television and co.
I’ve always thought Austin Sound sucked ass. But this one got me to visit the sight. Sad that’s what it takes. Take a bow?
We can’t all be me.
At least Austin Powell now has some competition in the brutal fight to conquer mediocrity.
Austin Sound has it right, witty retort or not.
Them’s a-fightin’ wurds alrite.
This is really not the place for accusations and if Austin Sound had even a smattering of savvy they would never name names… And make themselves look so petty. You wish Patrick Caldwell liked your shit that much.
All in all, this conversation veers away from the point, which is that the Pillow Queens are breaking up. They’re worthy of your attention, with or without Television comparisons.
That was great fun guys, thanks for participating! A few points to clarify this evening’s entertainment:
1: Sadly, the “Joe Gross” commenter is not actually Joe Gross. Sad, because this was hands-down the best comment in the thread.
2. It is obviously not the comparison to Television that we are annoyed by - comparisons are (and yes bands, we know you hate this) the backbone of putting music in context for readers, especially when that music is being written about and not heard. And bands sound like other bands - that’s how it works. And writing about music so descriptively as to make it sing in the reader’s ear is an art in and of itself, and very rare, and should be celebrated.
3. We are not making any accusation of plagiarism here. This is not plagiarism, nor is there anything that Caldwell has written (that we’ve read) that could be accused of that. That is not the argument here.
4. Ah, so what is the argument? Let’s clarify: Patrick Caldwell is now apparently the main music guy at the Statesman. Kudos, congratulations and all that. Never met the guy, sure he’s super nice. This is not personal. It is about being a music critic that befits that position.
Which means what, you ask?
4a: @ Ramon: “As anyone that’s ever actually run a department can attest to, the job is to put up content quickly and efficiently.” No Ramon, no it’s not. That is part of the job, but a real and reputable publication needs to provide actual insight, originality, historical and cultural context, etc. Otherwise you are simply an RSS feed of press releases. The Statesman is, in our estimation, a very real and reputable publication.
Now, this is a little post about a local band that put out one album - it’s not like it calls for some earth shattering description of their music. It is, in essence, simple news that no one should labor for hours trying to find the right words to talk about. (Sorry, Pillow Queens, that you got drug into this - here is some traffic about your show as consolation).
4b: Ramon and John, you are correct that on this slight little post alone, it is hardly worth making a fuss over. And you are also correct that this evidence, taken solely on its own, does not say much. However, as a site dedicated to covering the local music scene, we read a ton of stuff written about Austin bands, on blogs, in magazines, in newspapers. We have no life. And we have noticed (as mentioned, going back to even when Caldwell was writing for the Daily Texan) that this seems to happen a lot in his writing across his career.
Had we more examples at our fingertips, we’d throw them up. But alas, we don’t, which is why the intention of this open letter to Patrick is more along the lines of us putting him on notice, total Colbert style. Do we want to get him in some kind of trouble with his job? Nope. Do we want to him to start writing like a music critic that is worthy of the Statesman and his role there? Yep. Why? Because that would be good for the Austin music scene and everyone. We want good writers writing great and honest and original and thoughtful pieces about Austin bands, be they negative or positive. And we would hope that the Statesman, as one of Austin’s primary publications, would represent the music scene so.
5. So do we care that we feel Patrick lifted some lines from our site? Not really. (Hey, we’re rockin’ the CC, yo!) But do we care that he seems to do this a lot from any number of places? Yep. It’s just bad music journalism. Do we like rhetorical questions? Apparently.
Now that Patrick has taken over the reins of covering music for the Statesman, we expect him to up his critical game as well, and his responsibility as journalist and a writer.
“2. It is obviously not the comparison to Television that we are annoyed by - comparisons are (and yes bands, we know you hate this) the backbone of putting music in context for readers, especially when that music is being written about and not heard. And bands sound like other bands - that’s how it works. And writing about music so descriptively as to make it sing in the reader’s ear is an art in and of itself, and very rare, and should be celebrated.”
Unless you’re Raoul Hernandez at the Austin Chronicle.
In that case, you actually don’t mention any bands that the band you’re reviewing sounds like… and instead talk about how the band sounds like the wind in the trees of a foggy meadow with guitars that sound like a bull charging through a tennis court as a symphony of bad memories bubble from the volcanic frontal lobe.
Or something equally as incomprehensible.
And if you write for the Austinist, you just toss out the phrase “indie pop” or “White Denim”, whip something up using the royal “we”, and call your review done!
Also: Who the fuck hell the Pillow Queens? They’re getting more press in death than they got in life. It’s like Bonnie and fucking Clyde, but with a worse name.
“Unless you’re Raoul Hernandez at the Austin Chronicle. In that case, you actually don’t mention any bands that the band you’re reviewing sounds like… and instead talk about how the band sounds like the wind in the trees of a foggy meadow with guitars that sound like a bull charging through a tennis court as a symphony of bad memories bubble from the volcanic frontal lobe. Or something equally as incomprehensible.”
HA!!!! That is so funny. A spot-on description. Raoul Hernandez must think he’s some kind of poet. His reviews suck.
[...] Pillow Queens Pack It In Tomorrow Night (And An Open Letter to Patrick Caldwell) [...]
@JLM - to be fair, Mr. Hernandez occasionally likens a band to Springsteen. unfortunately, it’s usually a band that sounds nothing like Springsteen.
A couple of things
Austin The Pillow Queens are a great band just because you have not heard them doesn’t make them bad.
Austin Sound I agree with you to a point but you work for the chronicle which last post a ten page blow job article about Moby Grape. That made no sense and didn’t really get past their first album. It took up so much space so the chronicle did not cover anything else for entire week. I don’t think Moby Grape even has a reissue out.
That covered free week by listing the bands and saying festival make my head hurt.
It’s a little bit of glass houses.
That being said anyone who reads the statesman for local music is just out luck. That paper just doesn’t matter when comes to local music….it just doesn’t
Man I love this new meaner Austin Sound
I will agree with the last poster @Guy From Austin. Your first mistake was actually reading anything on the Statesman or Austin 360 site.
@Guy I wasn’t saying that Pillow Queens are bad… but I don’t know anyone that ever really cared to go see them, but by breaking up (and lucking into this little spat), they’ve gotten some more press/buzz. That was my only point. I think.
And yeah, the Chronicle spent the entire time talking about the Moby Grape album (which, unfortunately, was only briefly reissued in 2007 until legal disputes made it unavailable yet again!) instead of POSSIBLY talking about local bands, free week, a band that isn’t local but might be relevant, a band that isn’t local but might actually be releasing music (reissued or otherwise), etc.
I guess, in the case of the Austin Chronicle, it’s “you get what you pay for”… and I’m pretty sure the price is still zero bucks.
What a hilarious thread! I’m so happy. Am I fucking tripping here? You can almost call out what the writers at the chronicle are into. And then you get the curve that hits you on the side of the face. Darcy Stevens is totally into metal! Fucking come on! For real? I want to go over and drink a case of beer with her and play some Molly Hatchet tunes. All night. I’m down. You down? Let’s do it. We should throw a party at the moontower and invite that kid (wiley) that’s now old and weird looking. Drink some warm beer and get all messy with the critics. They could tell us why The Stooges Funhouse is sooooooo good. And we could judge their value face to face. In person. Judge the judges. We’ll get Crust to play. Hey, maybe Crust sounded like Television. Yeah, they did. No, they really didn’t. But maybe they did. We should ask Cameron Crowe.
What ever happened to Chris Gray? At least he used to come out and get drunk and be the last one to leave the party and write about that in his next TCB. Oh the days of rock.
I think we can all agree with one thing Chris Gray’s “off the record” was WAY BETTER than Austin Powell.
Can I get an AMEN
Wow. Buzz FTW! That was damn-nea’ poetic
@Guy the best thing to ever happen to 101x was the removal of Austin Powell from “The Next Big Thing”. At least Andy Langer, when his ego fits through the door, deserves to be on the radio and listens to new music that is sent to him.
Actually, I take that back. The best thing that ever happened to 101x was Sorority Intern.
I’m assuming she is hot though. No clue on that.
Playoff predictions while we’re at it:
Colts
Chargers
Cowboys
Saints
Best AFC road team with the best chance at an upset?
Gimme B-More on basis of this heartwarming story and history of zany Saturday night playoff games since the NFL started programming Saturday night playoff games in 2002.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4825585&sportCat=nfl
Go Cowboys!
I like and have liked the Pillow Queens since the beginning. I’m sad to see them go.
If you want to knock Patrick, remember there’s a reason me and my associates have published chops, and people like you are relegated to obscure message boards.
@Jro - So you must also be the reason why print journalism is a dying distribution channel and the Statesman can’t even give its rag away for free? I mean, you and Patrick must be writing up some really great shit that is just driving demand for the Statesman through the goddamn roof!