The "buzzworthy" aspects of AIDS Wolf's The Lovvers LP are the basically pointless, peripheral details you've probably heard a couple of hundred times by now.
FYI: Before you attack a band in this modern age of technology it is pretty damn easy to seek out band facts without too much trouble but then again it is so much easier and fun to be grossly judgmental.
PFM says: "There's the Montreal mailing address"
How dare a band have a hometown that for whatever reason is embraced by the press?
Wait which band started that crazy buzz for our friends up North?
Arcade Fire.
Who started the crazy hype on Arcade Fire?
Pitchfork.
If you want to roll your eyes-bored with star power A.W.'s list of friends like Death From Above and the Unicorns might be a better place to start, not their postal code.
PFM says: "the cluelessly offensive name"
The history of the band's name can be found here:
“Our buddies, An Albatross, were playing in this backyard in Ohio,” Deluxe tells me. “There were, like, 400 people there, people were setting off fireworks, it was insane. We happened to look down this alleyway, and spray-painted on the side of this building was just ‘AIDS WOLF.’ It felt like a weird message from God.”A resident of said vandalized building later informed the band that the phrase was derived from an urban legend (this is Ohio, mind you) concerning AIDS-infected wolves coming down into the city and biting people’s housepets. The pets then passed AIDS on to their owners via seemingly innocuous licks. “They had a ferret stuck in their walls,” she says, “and when it would scratch around, they’d be like, ‘Oh no! There’s the AIDS Wolf!’”
PFM says: "the awkward hairy-fairy nude photos"
And the press didn’t always take kindly to the Slits, Roxy Music, Janes Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hendrix, Kevin Blechdom, The Dwarves, Pixies, John & Yoko and Kites cover art to name a few either.
Oh no!!!!!!! Not nudity!!!!!!! Have we uncovered a “never nude” among camp PFM?
PFM says: "and the fact that Wolf Parade's Arlen Thompson helped record the eight tracks that make up the official debut (though they spelled his last name wrong in the liner notes)."
One more annoying famous friend this band has: Wolf Parade, which clearly is a better use of the word Wolf? Who likes that that Wolf Parade band anyhow?
Pitchfork.
Secondly typos happen. Just look at Brian Howe’s Feist review up on the front page of PFM right now. (It’s in the last paragraph)
PFM says: "The blogs and boards are already wondering whether it's rock or if it's noise. Maybe it's a joke? For now, let's just call it shit in wolf's clothing."
Avante-noise / what ever the hell you want to call is rising to a new degree of popularity and with this insurgence of bands come a varying degree of quality. PopMatters didn’t love Lovvers much more than PFM and hiking around on line I found equal parts of positive and negative reactions to this band. I guess it's never to soon for the backlash to kick in and surprise surprise, PFM took the most dramatic low road in voicing their distaste for AIDS Wolf.
There are lot’s of experimental bands I don’t get (like half the Load roster, much of the Bulb roster, Magik Markers, some of the Menlo Parks releases, over 40% of the Sonic Youth side projects…) but to call one band flat out shit if anything will peak the interest in this band more. I am also rather certain after reading a few interviews with AIDS Wolf that this kind of negative press is served like cake at their practice space.
I checked out AW’s MySpace page and they already had some 70 hits as of 10am this morning, 200 hits at 3pm, over 430 hit by 11:30pm. They also have close to 5k “friends”. ( Thurs. Feb, 16th 2005)
Looks to me like this “shit” is kinda popular with the kids and thanks to Pitchfork more popular than yesterday.
Decide for yourself here.
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/AIDSWOLF
