Masks and Makeup: The Power of Uniform

[confettiinmyhair]

I find that even the most terrible bands are easier to like if they have a good look, something that puts them apart from the t-shirt and skinny jeans lad rock cluttering the current music scene. I want this thread to celebrate the good, the bad and the ugly music acts that are visually interesting.


Ugly

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fF6HgpdaaCU
http://www.myspace.com/hollywoodundead



Bad

Mushroomhead
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=U45NfWSX-Vk&feature=related

Slipknot
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OiDutbIUpKk

ICP
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=c_V03Vn_evw

Mudvayne
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WrBONyFBePc



Good

Devo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rxH39QlRuhg

MF Doom
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qtrw2iHCCmg&feature=related

[purlieu]

Slipknot?  Bad?  Bugger off!
I hate their mask image, and I hate the fact they became big around the rise of nu-metal and attracted the 15 year old crowd.  And I hate Iowa.
But Volume 3 is astonishingly good, and Mate Feed Kill Repeat and All Hope Is Gone are pretty fucking ace.

Rant out of the way, even the skinny jeans look has its 'uniforms' - ie The Horrors will only ever be known for their image (which is a shame, because their music is surprisingly different to most modern NME shite), and Johnny Borrell's white outfit thing was hideous.

I think - with MF Doom an exception, at a stretch - that all uniforms/masks/band images make them look like dicks.

[confettiinmyhair]

Slipknot?  Bad?  Bugger off!
I hate their mask image, and I hate the fact they became big around the rise of nu-metal and attracted the 15 year old crowd.  And I hate Iowa.
But Volume 3 is astonishingly good, and Mate Feed Kill Repeat and All Hope Is Gone are pretty fucking ace.

Rant out of the way, even the skinny jeans look has its 'uniforms' - ie The Horrors will only ever be known for their image (which is a shame, because their music is surprisingly different to most modern NME shite), and Johnny Borrell's white outfit thing was hideous.

My reasons for including Slipknot in the bad were the horrible side projects that spawned from the band. Stone Sour, The Murderdolls and To my Surprise

[purlieu]

I love To My Surprise.  Anyone who promotes a sixties pop-style album with two really cheesy nu-metal singles gets top points in my book.  I wish there was a YouTube video with a collage of all the greasy teenagers' expressions upon first hearing it, it'd keep me entertained all day.

[thugler]

Slipknot?  Bad?  Bugger off!
I hate their mask image, and I hate the fact they became big around the rise of nu-metal and attracted the 15 year old crowd.  And I hate Iowa.
But Volume 3 is astonishingly good, and Mate Feed Kill Repeat and All Hope Is Gone are pretty fucking ace.

Agreed. Some of their fans are total fuckwits mind.

Mudvayne had a couple of decent songs also, and I think ditched the makeup a couple of years after.

[23 Daves]

No mention of Australia's finest TISM then?  Here's "Greg! The Stop Sign"

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hSTm9aititM

From Wikipedia:

TISM have always used a variety of methods to conceal their identities. They have never officially revealed their names, instead choosing to use pseudonyms on their records and in interviews, all the while concealing their faces. Usually this involves the wearing of a [Balaclava (clothing)|[balaclava]], but ridiculous costumes have been created for the purpose, including Ku Klux Klan uniforms made of newspaper,[29] silver suits with puffy arms and legs,[29] giant foam paintings worn on the head,[29] large foam signs bearing the name of a Beatle,[30] fat 'businessman' suits,[29] and eight-foot-high inflatable headpieces,[7] among others.

When asked why they wear masks, Flaubert replied:

The answer that makes me sound good is that we desired to circumvent the cult of personality that is inherent in rock music by choosing to remain anonymous. Unlike every other band in rock we chose to be anonymous. The answer that makes me sound good would probably also incorporate some lengthy discussion about Brechtian alienation techniques, about our post modernist grasp of ever cooling universe, and a dehumanizing society encapsulated in the somewhat paramilitary aspect of our clothing. All of those things would make me sound good, but actually we're really boring guys."

[trotsky assortment]

That's all I have to say right now.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Sunn O)))

They look like they sound.

[boki]

IT WAS INEVITABLE:



THIS TOO:

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I've never heard any of The Residents' music, but if it's even half as ace as their costumes I'll be interested.

[trotsky assortment]

The Residents were a big influence on Les Claypool of Primus fame.  Some of their stuff is pretty cool.  If you listen to 'Give It To Someone Else' from The Residents' 'Commercial Album', it's obvious where Claypool got his vocal style.  Don't be fooled though - there's nothing commercial about 'The Commercial Album'.

Hey boki - Good call on The Network!

[The Plaque Goblin]

There's a band called The Mummies. Guess how they dress on stage.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Like slaaaags?

[Ignatius_S]

http://www.theshecreatures.com/

[tarmac]

What about silly old Buckethead?

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4q3p_o8A6g&feature=related[/youtube]

Bungle used to have some fairly bizonkers costumes and I read somewhere that Mike Patton collects silly masks, which they all used to wear.


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETIKt9bOXCc[/youtube]

Mate Feed Kill Repeat.

Have to agree there.  Although I really don't like metalz anymore, Mate Feed Kill Repeat is still an absolute joy to revisit.  Hearing it as a 16 year old lad knocked me off my feet, especially compared to their rather average commercial debut album which although I quite liked as a nipper, wouldn't tickle my fancy nowadays.

Another vote for DOOM too.  I think it'd be hard for most other MCs to be taken seriously in a mask, but DOOM pulls it off beautifully, probably because he doesn't take it entirely seriously himself. ('Fancy Clowns' off Madvillainy is the best example of this I can think of).  But at the same time the mask is serious enough not to be a complete joke, with all the gloomy metaphors it carries about Subroc's death and record label troubles etc.

[The Boston Crab]

Ridiculous

[purlieu]

The thing that annoys me about Daft Punk's 'nobody can see our faces, we're robots!' image is the photo of their faces in the Homework sleeve.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The Polyphonic Spree.

Far more sinister than Sunn O))).

[The Boston Crab]

The thing that annoys me about Daft Punk's 'nobody can see our faces, we're robots!' image is the photo of their faces in the Homework sleeve.

Didn't you know that they only turned into robots on 9/9/1999 after a studio explosion?

[purlieu]

Please tell me that's not the 'true' story?

[confettiinmyhair]

The Locust

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3DUce8VGl-Y


and who can forget GWAR and Lordi

[no_offenc]

A mate and ex-bandmate of mine does a noise... thing... uh, called MONOBROW, and there's about 8 of 'em at the mo, all of whom have gotten custom colour-coded balaclavas made, all of which have a black line knitted in above the eyes.  They actually look rather good.

[Goldentony]

and who can forget GWAR and Lordi

I'd certainly rather forget Lordi, but i'm a huge fan of GWAR - i think they get a bit of a bad rep as a one off comedy band playing some sort of joke thrash most people have never took the time to check out, or that band they used to see occasionally on Beavis And Butthead, but there's so much more to them than the music. The amount of effort and bullshit that goes into stuff like the faux mythology behind the band, the art work and stage props and some of the incredible films, fucking fantastic, and the fact they're still doing it just as well 20 plus years later when they could have fucked it off so many times is good to see.

Buckethead - also been mentioned, big fan of him too, haven't checked out much recent stuff because i'm unable to afford the 30+ records he seems to release every year.

In fact, shit, apart from Slipknot, Mudvayne and Mushroomhead these are all bands i listen to. I'm drawn to bright colors.

[Marty McFly]

Mortiis


Da Bruddas


The McRackins (standing in front of a very familiar backdrop)


Self explanatory


The Aquabats


Los Straitjackets


oh, and let's not forget..

[The Boston Crab]

Please tell me that's not the 'true' story?

Sorry, it was their sampler which apparently blew up. My mistake.

Nah, I think they meant it as a joke but they definitely said it in a promo interview in 'The Face' just before Discovery came out. They always wore masks or facepaint though even when they were starting, though I take your point about the young photos.

[Gradual Decline]

[NoSleep]

Six of the many guises of the Sun City Girls

[trotsky assortment]

The other day, I spent ages trying to think what Crimson Glory were called.  Was never keen on those masks.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

How could we forget?

[imitationleather]

I've never heard any of The Residents' music, but if it's even half as ace as their costumes I'll be interested.

Me and my mate at a festival this summer...



About two people recognised us as The Residents.