Give The Drummer None

Last night I watched Saturday Night Live for the first time in eons. It was a repeat, and the Shins were the musical guest. I kind of like the Shins, but when I saw them during CMJ in 2003, I thought they were boring. Watching them last night, I remembered part of the reason why: Their drummer is awful. The word that kept coming to mind was "emasculated," a word that I've never used in the context of a musician before. But whoever the Shins drummer is, he played so damned limply that I almost yelled at the TV.

There are a lot of conservative commentators who wonder aloud about the so called feminization of American men. I don't know about that, but I do sometimes wonder about it when it comes to the vanguard of current rock bands. Where did everyone's balls go? It's not like I'm looking for the false machismo of the rap/rock era, but a lot of bands seem to play like "power" is a dirty word.