Bruhn sent this boilerplate email earlier in the month:
"Hello Die Music Die,
We’re an indie rock band from Portland OR by the name of “bruhn”. We just finished our first full-length album called “Pull From This End” and are now in the process of promoting our record. We’re hoping to get a review and write up. We would love for you to give us a listen. Any and all feedback is appreciated. We will attach our song “Hollywood” to the email.
You can download a free copy of our album at ...
Thank you for your consideration.
Take Care.
bruhn"
Many music critics are overwhelmed with such emails. In fact, it represents an alarming majority of submissions. They populate my "Spam" folder. To address this nuisance, I randomly plucked bruhn's for reviewing "Pull From This End". Instead, crankiness took over ...
Damn. Damn damn. Damn damn damn! My bias shows like a tramp stamp on a skank.
I cannot adequately review music when this feels like the internal dialogue of a band that submits music spam ...
"Here buddy, I'm throwing this out ... just hoping some idiot will like it and give us free press. If not, well, we don't give 1/2 a shit (maybe a 3/4 on a good day). If you dig it, cool. Still, whatever ... it's not like we're personally invested. We'll digest it, if it's good and share a 1/4 shit with you (if you're lucky)."
"Pull From This End" is hazy, cool and completely throwaway -- it's part of the new wave of dream pop. It is a solid "B-" album. There is nothing mindblowingly good or bad about the record. Appropriately, it kind of sounds like the artists are sleeping with their instruments and mics. The cover art is just as inspired. I guess I can term their overall effort as "emailing it in".
Say what you will about mailing it in -- at least it requires a person to get out bed. A person can "email it in" from the can.
The truth hurts, but this is what most music reviewers think. I know that bands don't think of it in those terms; considered are the dollars and time emailing saves. An email does not replace the feel of a new CD and the realization that a struggling indie band gives enough of a damn to spend $2-$3 with the hope of getting their music reviewed. When I think about the time, cost and effort put into their self-publicity, it encourages me to really listen and give a fair shake.
Nothing impresses on me more than an artist, outfit or indie label that will write a letter, put in a CD and throw in a key chain or something when cash is virtually nonexistent. These days, it's rare to even earn enough in the business to eek out a living. Unless someone emails something that is extraordinary, I cannot justify pissing in the face of the gambling artists that deserve press.
