something i've been meaning to post ....

The Cure: "The End of the World (Live on The Tonight Show)"
12 years ago, Robert Smith composed what surely would have ranked among the greatest goodbyes in rock history. Sparked by the guitar-heavy shoegaze movement, he concluded 1992's Wish with the furious fuck-off "End", which begins, "I think I've reached that point/ Where giving up and going on/ Are both the same dead end to me/ Are both the same old song." It's now quite obvious how literal the song was: Smith checked out over a decade ago. Fans have only themselves to blame for expecting anything more than his trademarked "'Q!" after every song.
Last Friday, Brent DiCrescenzo and I picked up a six-pack of Stella and sat down to figure out what "The End of the World" could possible add to a story beset by cloying, incestuous pap like "Cut Here", "Want" and "Maybe Someday". I'd given Bloodflowers a pass for the excellent opener "Out of this World", but most of the record was garbage, and as time goes on, it's aging about as well as Smith himself. Which brings up The Cure's crucial problem-- one I addressed in my review of Join the Dots: When you sell smooth skin and twentysomething sexuality, you're going to hit a major wall when your looks go. Simon Gallup's still got it, but the rest of the band melt under the lights; as Brent pointed out, unlike Bowie, The Cure never changed: Smith's look is such a trademark that he can't evolve. And so, he disintegrates.

Jaws on the floor, we watched as Fat Bob-- who in his defense doesn't look much worse than he did in 2000-- phoned in his Tonight Show performance, wielding a matte black nu-metal Telecaster knockoff and playing one-finger drop-D barre chords to a grating Moog line. By the time the band got to the "Oooooooo-weeeeeeeee-oooooooo" bridge, we couldn't even look at the screen. "Maybe he's just been listening to too much Alex Harvey," I offered. "You know he's recording a version of 'Faith Healer' with the band." Brent shattered my desperate search for a credible explanation, cracking his last beer and laughing, "Maybe he's been listening to too much Get Up Kids." At the very least, we can say Ross Robinson and Blink 182 have exposed The Cure to some dire American music from the last five years, and, much like Smith's credibility, it has rubbed off. [Chris Ott; May 3rd, 2004]

darn pitchfork and their snobbery ... ugh.

ipoding: gleaming auction - snow patrol