FILTER? I DAMN NEAR KILLED HER!
A lot of serious music people turn up their noses at Filter, and shit, I don’t exactly blame them. It’s tough to tell that mainman Richard Patrick is a brilliant songwriter judging from the band’s high-profile Hallmark-ish singles. If Filter were some unknown entity, it’d be easier for non-wimps to give each Filter album — homes to at least a dozen of rock’s most compelling songs of the past ten years — a deserved day in court. Instead, car commercials and dentist offices poison the ears of would-be fans with Patrick’s detours into wheezy, airbrushed soft rock.
Which is fine, cuz set against Patrick’s heavy hitters (like this jam or this mega-jam), songs like “The Only Way (Is The Wrong Way)” and “Where Do We Go From Here?” provide counterpoint to the screamage and all that. Plus, popularity among download jockeys is way less profitable than licensing songs to Hummer. So Patrick’s not wrong, but yeah my point is that those songs taken singularly are misleading; thusly, I’m sick of saying defensive stuff like “Filter is awesome!” (i.e. “despite what you’ve heard”) when it should be “Filter is awesome!” (i.e. “Hooray!”).
So you can imagine the volume and duration of my groan this morning upon the unveiling of Filter’s second video from The Trouble With Angels, “Fades Like A Photograph.” Why groan? Well, not only does the track overtly recall mega-hit “Take A Picture,” but it’s the only damn tune on the absolutely slamming TTWA with no writing contribution from hunky producer Bob Marlette (cuz it’s dredged from the Testament-free 2012 soundtrack). What a waste of Bob. And the theme of questionable decision making continues in the video proper, which seems like little more than an excuse for Patrick, 42, to play-act opposite 24-year old HPOA Sonja Kinski (above, daughter of Natassja/granddaughter of Klaus) and hammily rock out on a rooftop to the largely guitar- and drum-less song. Again, it’s not wrong, but it is what shitty bands do. And Filter is totally un-shitty. Like anyone will believe me.
Hooray! Filter’s The Trouble With Angels is awesome and out now via Rocket Science Ventures.
–ADF
