A few weeks ago I received a Facebook notification letting me know that my older sister had tagged me in a comment on SafetySuit”s latest post – a link to their newest single.
Elated, I listened to the song. Although I was not entirely impressed, I”ve been around the block enough times to know that the first single is not a tell-all representation of the upcoming album. But it didn”t take long to realize I was one of the few mature people commenting on the thread.
Lyndsie Kiebert
Other people were writing things like, “This sounds nothing like SafetySuit,” and “Wow, what sellouts.”
The new song is admittedly not very reminiscent of the stuff that built a lot of their fan base, like “Stay” and “Find A Way” from the band”s 2008 album, “Life Left To Go.”
Still, reprimanding a band for trying something new and calling the musicians sellouts is childish. These people need to reanalyze what it means to be a true fan.
Sadly, the SafetySuit incident is only the most recent in a series of band bad-mouthing that doesn”t do anyone any good. It”s OK for bands to grow and evolve, and it”s OK for the naysayers to keep their traps shut.
Remember who you were in 8th grade? Take a moment and think back to your goals, your obsessions, the person you had a crush on – isn”t it funny, in hindsight, how much you”ve changed and grown? It was necessary. Without that phase, you wouldn”t be who you are today, and the same goes for your favorite bands.
Paramore is a classic example. Starting in 2005 with the teen angst of “All We Know Is Falling,” you”d never have guessed that the band would have punk-pop hits on the radio today. When I first listened to the band”s 2013 self-titled album, I”ll admit that I had to force myself to keep an open mind.
I loved the quarreling Paramore of the band”s 2009 album, “Brand New Eyes.” However, bands are people too, and when the Farro brothers took their talents elsewhere, Hayley, Josh and Jeremy were forced to evolve, and did it with style.
With that in mind, I began to love Paramore”s self-titled album.
Bands like Coldplay, with the shift from indie-grunge to electropop, and Mumford & Sons, who have moved beyond the banjo, are perfectly allowed to do what they want with their artistic liberties. Fans are also perfectly entitled to their opinion. But bashing the band for selling out? That is uncalled for, always.
I may not be incredibly blown away by SafetySuit”s new single, but that doesn”t mean I don”t still love the band. It”s the same one that was with me on all those afternoons when “Life Left To Go” was the only album I could bare to listen to.
You won”t see the new stuff among my most played, but you also won”t see me calling the musicians sellouts on social media or YouTube. I have too much self-respect – and respect for the artists” right to grow – to do that.
Lyndsie Kiebert can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lyndsie_kiebert