Ke$ha and the Duty of Pop Music

Look, I know what you’re thinking: “Ke$ha? That trashy slut?”  I am here to tell you that you’re wrong, and that the new Ke$ha album Warrior is Important. This is what the kids are listening to, and the kids can’t be ignored.

The album’s first song, and title track, starts with the revving of an engine, before Ke$ha’s voice kicks in: “We were born to break the door down/fight until the end.” She repeats the word “warrior” a few times, stretching it out to absurd lengths, before the beat kicks in. The song is meant to be uplifting, and a call to arms. It’s about not being a victim, and empowering yourself. The song has fantastic hooks, but an odd structure. This is pure pop to be sure, but the song’s glitchy breakdown keeps things interesting.

The next song, “Die Young” was one of the best mainstream tracks of 2012. It’s a nihilist pop anthem, a shout out to living in the moment. It’s also protest music, the sort of thing people should be paying attention to.

In many ways, it could be seen a response to to the stuff Dylan was doing in the ‘60’s. Consider “Bob Dylan’s Dream”:  “with hungry hearts through the heat and cold/we never much thought we could get very old./We thought we could sit forever in fun/and our chances really was a million to one.” Dylan was aware of his eventual demise, and he sang as if he was resigned to it. Ke$ha, on the other hand, doesn’t care. She’s going to party and fuck shit up. She’s going to make sure each moment counts.

This must somehow be evident of the mindset of America’s youth today. Kids today are more culturally aware than at any moment in history. They’ve gradually grown disillusioned. What Ke$ha does is represent this mindset.

In one of the album’s best tracks, "All That Matters (Beautiful Life)" Ke$ha mutters “fuck it I don’t care” before declaring that all she wants to do is get high. The song has a pulsing disco beat and a huge chorus: “baby, all that matters/is the beautiful life.” Obviously, this song is built for arenas. That sentiment is expressed during the song’s bridge when Ke$ha sings “put your motherfucking phones up” and it brings forth the image of thousands of kids waving their smartphones in the air.  Ke$ha’s music exists in the here and now, these songs couldn’t exist in any other decade.

If we really want to examine where our culture is heading we should look towards pop music. Yes, it’s a cliché to say that children are the future, but the distinction is obvious. Good pop stars can channel the energy of their audiences, and Ke$ha, with her army of so-called Animals, does exactly that. Even if she doesn’t consciously know what she’s doing, she’s bringing kids together with positive messages of hope and love, and living life to the fullest. Sure, some of the things she sings about may be considered reprehensible, but that’s only there to get the kids hooked. Pop music uses the rush to entice people, like any good drug. Warrior and the message it contains, is vital. Pay attention. 

Alcoholic Faith Mission - Ask Me This

Alcoholic Faith Mission hails from Denmark. Ask Me This is their fourth record. The band plays a strange sort of pop music with occasional hints of shoegaze and folk. This record, the follow-up to 2010’s Let This be the Last Night We Leave. Ask Me This is in general a better, more solid record than its predecessor, though nothing here quite measures to that album’s best song, the soul crushing “Sobriety Up and Left”.

Ask Me This begins with the album’s weakest moment, “Down From Here.” It’s forgettable, and easily skipped. The next song, ‘Alaska” shocks us awake with and an odd guitar, and a catchy melody. A pretty piano leads us into the chorus, and the lines; “it’s the thought of letting go and the hell it will provide that enables me to stay right here choking and these lies.” The chorus is repeated, and the jagged guitar lines return. This is masochistic listening, but it’s engaging and framed by a combination of gorgeous/odd melodies that makes it hard to turn away.

A lilting piano followed by a muffled drum beat starts off “into pieces”. The instrumentation is again strange, oddly sung vocals, weird mouth parts, and distorted melodies. AFF’s music is vaguely reminiscent of Xiu Xiu, but never as hard to listen to as that band sometimes is.

Ask Me This continues through 7 more pop songs before ending with ‘Throw Me to the Wolves.” The song is soft, melancholic and a perfect send off.  The album is full of damaged emotions and fucked up relationships. It’s actually the best place to start with if you’re interested in the band. Previous albums were “growers”, but this one is immediately accessible. It’s April, so it’s early, but come December, if there is any justice, this album will hitting best-of lists everywhere.