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Sound Rebelliousness: “Search and Destroy”

One of music’s greatest powers, and perhaps its most important, is that it encourages us to think or to do something. In short, it inspires us to act. As such, music is a point of departure, an escape route that takes us far away from the dull routine and incites us to rebel against all that limits or shuns us. It works like a rocket drawing attention to everything we could or would like to change.

Rebelliousness has many forms and thousands of objects, all equally valid. But if asked about “history-making” rebels, one of the first names that comes to mind is, of course, Iggy Pop. Whether with The Stooges or going solo, as his biography states, his life has been decidedly punk and essentially nihilistic, both on stage and off: “I am a world’s forgotten boy / The one who searches and destroys”, he sang on “Search and Destroy” in 1973, referring to the Vietnam War and to the other everyday war, also highly destructive, as if the world were about to end.

And, while it is certainly difficult to see and appreciate other forms of rebelliousness with Iggy and his Stooges on the scene, this year’s line-up does feature a healthy handful of names that hardly conform to conventional visions of the world or of music. One case in point, for example, is The Horrors. They see everything in black, but the most mysterious and intriguing black, with the same biting humour as the drawings of Edward Gorey and the music of The Cramps: rockabilly, horror films from the 50s and sinister nicknames like Coffin Joe and Faris Rotter form part of the shared imagery. Furthermore, they succeeded in bringing Chris Cunningham back after seven years of retirement to make the video for “Sheena Is a Parasite” in which the actress Samantha Morton plays the parasite in not the nicest way among strobe lights. This “gang of horrors” defends a sinister darkness inhabited by Jack the Ripper and Edgar Allen Poe, reminiscent of nineteenth-century London.

Amy Winehouse also deserves a place of honour in this category. The headlines about her music compete with stories about her personal life and her relationship with alcohol in the British tabloids, but if there is one thing that comes through loud and clear in her songs is that she is not willing to lead her life any other way that her own. (“They tried to make me go to rehab / I said no, no, no”, she sings on “Rehab”.) Her earthy voice and heartfelt lyrics are without doubt a reflection of a particular way to understand soul and the blues as well as a firm decision not to make concessions.

Others at the age of rebelliousness are Artic Monkeys. Despite holding the record for the biggest-selling album in a short period of time (their debut, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”), their high-energy and visceral rock continues to be fuelled by nights of partying and girls, with a clinical vision of the supposed “scenes” and the need for there always to be a “next big thing” – something or someone new to first hit the top and then, shortly afterwards, be thrown out (“I don’t want to hear you / Kick me out! Kick me out!” they scream during the concert of a “super cool band” on “Fake Tales of San Francisco”, and they reassert their refusal on “Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But…”: “I’m not like you and I don’t want your advice or your praise or to move in the ways you do / Cause all you people are vampires and all your stories are stale / And though you pretend to stand by us, I know you’re certain we’ll fail.”)

Finally, we cannot forget that while the concept of rebellion tends to be automatically identified with brushing up against the “dark side of the force”, it can also go in the complete opposite direction. This is the case with Nouvelle Vague who, when they take on versions of new-wave classics of the 80s, do not seek to radicalise the originals but rather bring them to an entirely new place. As such, Depeche Mode, The Clash, Dead Kennedys and Joy Division are given smooth and enveloping bossa nova readings as if they had never been anything else before.

Of course they are all rebels, but not all the rebels are listed here. As we mentioned earlier, there are many and very varied ways to remain true to one’s vision of the world. The line-up this year is extensive and variegated, and everyone is sure to find an echo of their own concerns and passions among the long list of names: someone who rebels against love or the established powers that be or the music scene or the previous generation… All you have to do is stop and listen to the many and very varied ideas songs give us to change our lives, to say something we have never been able to before and to carry our intuitions just a bit above and beyond.