I’ve harbored a dislike from afar of Matt and Kim for a long time. Not as people, obviously. I’m sure they’re chill, but to say their music does nothing for me actually wouldn’t do justice to how I feel about them. With the announcement of their headlining status at Freakfest, I’ve here found my first medium to publicly voice my annoyance. As a disclaimer, I’m not a Matt and Kim expert by any means. I’ve only seen them from afar at Bonnaroo as they drowned out the sound of Dirty Projectors while I was trying to catch a quick ’Roo snooze in the grass and get my David Longstreth fix. You mess with my naps and you’re on my dislike list for a long time, but that was not the beginning of my distaste.
All I hear as soon as someone presses play on a Matt and Kim tune is absolute cacophony. The abrasive piano, whiny vocals and average lyrics set up a discordance that makes it really difficult for me to understand what I’m missing. My sister shares my view, and she summed it up pretty accurately with this critical text: “I’d rather stay at home and throw my guitar into a garbage can to get the same sound, basically.” “Good Ol‘ Fashioned Nightmare” and “Daylight” sound like my roommate’s cat is playing two repeated piano chords while someone talk-sings about everything they did that day. Basically, it’s just super grating and I’m definitely not going to try to catch that one live at Freakfest, or ever.
In the spirit of being diplomatic and because I get personally affronted when people bash my favorite bands, I’d actually like to know if I’m missing the secret to being a Matt and Kim fan, so I’m definitely open to hearing different opinions on this matter.
On the flip side, though the headliners didn’t psych me up this year, a few of the smaller acts definitely caught my eye. Obviously CRASHprez and Lord of the Fly are always worth the watch with their entertaining and often socially conscious lyrics. They always bring infectious energy, quick wordplay and have great rap chemistry. I think these dudes, along with Smiley Gatmouth and DJ *hitmayng will add a necessary University of Wisconsin touch to Freakfest. Additionally, The Living Statues, formerly of UW-Madison, now grown up and doing real people things in conjunction with playing cool as ice rock ‘n’ roll, have never disappointed live with their ’50s inspirations and authentic rock experience.
Overall, if I were to attend Freakfest, I’d make it a priority to get there nice and early to check out the array of smaller and Madison=based bands over the headliners—particularly Matt and Kim.
