MTV Buzz Bin

(Mammoth/Atlantic)
by Joshua Brown

MTV and their vision of “alternative rock” hold more responsibility for the Gen X idea the minions have flocked behind than any other institution.

Reviewing this one is akin to summarizing the mission of Music Television over the last few years. So, I’ll spare you the dissertation. What MTV Buzz Bin is is a concise overview of post-Nirvana mainstream culture, stuff many of us have come to “love to hate” or hate ourselves for loving. Blind Melon wins the “love to hate” award (“No Rain”), and the Gin Blossoms track (“Hey Jealousy”) is the one I always choke on when I find myself singing along. Some songs are just hard to argue with, or to find criticism that holds any real weight, such as Radiohead‘s “Creep” and “More Human than Human” by White Zombie. (Incidentally, the “so fucking special” was kept on the former, while the latter has the word “motherfucker” edited out. It’s nice to see that MTV is every bit as decisive in what it stands for as when it first started out.) More subjective tunes that still kick ass in my book, recorded by artists who have since then lived almost exclusively off their name and released less than mediocre material, are Stone Temple Pilots‘ “Plush” and Danzig‘s “Mother” from Demonsweatlive (and didn’t we all know that song would be re-released once Glenn’s music rose above (or fell below) cult phenomenon? Just nod and smile if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) Along with Danzig, the older scenesters involved are the Dave Matthews Band (“What Would You Say?”) and Cracker (“Low”). To wrap things up, I like the Cranberries‘ “Zombie” mostly because I like anything zombie-oriented (don’t ask me… I even dig that fuckin’ Hooters song), always hated that song “Everything Zen” by Bush for its lame-brained attempt at profundity, and there’s just something basically insulting about that Filter song (“Hey Man, Nice Shot”).