Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

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Harold
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Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Harold »

Is anyone else aware (as I've just found out) that a bizarre, one-sided "feud" has erupted between the makers of two of 2014's best albums? It started a few weeks ago at a music festival in Ottawa, where Sun Kil Moon and The War on Drugs happened to be playing at the same time on opposite ends of the venue and SKM's Mark Kozelek was bothered by persistent sound bleed from WoD's stage. Irritated (as Kozelek is, perpetually, about everything), he made some disparaging remarks about being drowned out by "beer-commercial lead guitar" and then announced that his next song was titled "The War on Drugs Can Suck My F---ing C--k."

A mildly amusing, quickly forgotten bit of stage banter, right? Wrong. For whatever reason, the notoriously curmudgeonly Kozelek will not let it go. He's been continuing to take shots at Adam Granduciel's band, and earlier this week he actually released an actual song actually titled "War on Drugs: S--k My C--k." (For the record, Granduciel has posted a couple of terse, mildly bemused tweets - prior to the actual song being released - but has otherwise not commented.) Needless to say, this whole thing has engendered a ton of commentary on indie-music sites, particularly Stereogum, which is the place to go for a pretty comprehensive chronicle (all of it coming down harshly on Kozelek) of this weirdness.
Jirin
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Jirin »

Wow. Sun Kil Moon is Vaughn from Community.

Shouldn't he be angry at the venue, not the band?
Brad
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Brad »

Pitchfork's been all over this since it happened. To be honest, I lost respect for Kozelek, who just (to me) comes off like a douche. And I'm one of those people who - contrary to the opinions of some forumers - selectively allows douchy behaviour to affect how I listen to said artist's music.
Kingoftonga
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Kingoftonga »

I agree that Sun Kil Moon doesn't come out of this looking very good.

I have to admit, though, that once I listened to the song I found it pretty amusing. If it was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek parody of the whole feud done in the style of a Sun Kil Moon song, I think it's pretty great. If he's actually serious (and I honestly can't tell; the whole thing is just so bizarre), that's more problematic.
Jirin
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Jirin »

War On Drugs you're a B!

Image

They're a GDB!
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Listyguy
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Listyguy »

As much as this does make Kozelek look like an asshole, are we really going to act like a lot of forum favorites aren't assholes? I mean, John Lennon and Bob Dylan were/are egotistical as hell, among other things. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Harold
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Harold »

Listyguy wrote:As much as this does make Kozelek look like an asshole, are we really going to act like a lot of forum favorites aren't assholes?
This never happened to Pablo Picasso.
Jirin
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Jirin »

This doesn't affect my opinion of the man's music. It's just a really silly way to behave.

On the other hand, nobody has a problem with Lennon's 'How Do You Sleep' or Dylan's 'Positively Fourth Street'
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Listyguy
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Listyguy »

Jirin wrote:This doesn't affect my opinion of the man's music. It's just a really silly way to behave.

On the other hand, nobody has a problem with Lennon's 'How Do You Sleep' or Dylan's 'Positively Fourth Street'
I definitely agree that it doesn't change my opinion on the music; I love the Beatles and Dylan, and King Crimson, and U2, etc.
I will say one difference between the Dylan song and the Sun Kil Moon song is that Dylan does it more tastefully. The Lennon song I have a problem with (along with the rest of that album) because he goes from saying "Love everyone and we can be happy together as a planet" on the title track to "I hate Paul McCartney" later on. The level of hypocrisy is too much for me to handle.
Harold wrote:
Listyguy wrote:As much as this does make Kozelek look like an asshole, are we really going to act like a lot of forum favorites aren't assholes?
This never happened to Pablo Picasso.

:)
Harold
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Harold »

Jirin wrote:On the other hand, nobody has a problem with Lennon's 'How Do You Sleep' or Dylan's 'Positively Fourth Street'
Actually, I've always had a problem with "How Do You Sleep?", because it's such a vitriolic, hyperbolic attack on a specific, instantly identifiable individual. (And yes, I remember reading in an interview that it definitely hurt McCartney, deeply.) It's a petty cheap shot, and it mars an otherwise perfect album. "Positively 4th Street" is no less vitriolic, of course, but is its subject known (too busy/lazy to look it up, sorry)?
Last edited by Harold on Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Gillingham
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Gillingham »

It's typically Kozelek, quite uncalled for.

Then again, the song is really great and funny too. I guess, by now, he's just making fun of it all and enjoying the attention it gets.
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Listyguy
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Listyguy »

Harold wrote:
Jirin wrote:On the other hand, nobody has a problem with Lennon's 'How Do You Sleep' or Dylan's 'Positively Fourth Street'
Actually, I've always had a problem with "How Do You Sleep?", because it's such a vitriolic, hyperbolic attack on a specific, instantly identifable individual. (And yes, I remember reading in an interview that it definitely hurt McCartney, deeply.) It's a petty cheap shot, and it mars an otherwise perfect album. "Positively 4th Street" is no less vitriolic, of course, but is its subject known (too busy/lazy to look it up, sorry)?
I concur with your points. Off the record, It's unknown who the specific subject of the Dylan song is, though there are many theories, including that it's about Izzy Young being the leading candidate, along with some other folk-purists. It's also been suggested Dylan is targeting everyone who was bitching at him for departing from his folk roots.
Nick
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Nick »

There is no possible way Mark is serious. No 50 something year old man who is seriously angry would write a song like that. I'm shocked that some people still haven't realized it's all a huge joke on his part. Whether it's a funny joke or not is up for debate (I'll admit it, the song made me laugh. It sounds like a Benji outtake).
jamieW
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by jamieW »

I don’t know enough about the feud (or Mark Kozelek) to say for sure how seriously he’s taking it. But after listening to the song (which I found to be quite funny), it just sounds to me like he’s parodying the entire situation.

Without question, the behavior of artists can influence how much I enjoy their music, but this definitely wouldn’t be one of those cases. It certainly doesn’t negate how moved I was the first time I heard “Pray for Newtown.” Since I have kids the same age, I was deeply affected by the Newtown tragedy (to put things mildly), and the lyrics echoed so many of the thoughts and emotions I was struggling with at the time. As with the Dylan and Lennon examples already discussed, an artist doesn’t always have to be the most amiable person in the world to write revealing songs about the human condition, and I'm thankful to Mark Kozelek for writing plenty of them.
irreduciblekoan
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by irreduciblekoan »

Yeah, it's quite clearly tongue-in-cheek. The song is hilarious, and if you know Sun Kil Moon's music (especially the latest album) you know that Kozelek is often sarcastic, dry, and irreverent. Maybe he really was annoyed when it first happened, but the song, and all the attention since then, has all been a big source of amusement for Kozelek, at least in my opinion. I don't think he comes off as a douche at all. The Lennon tune that has been mentioned in this thread was much more serious and damaging.
Brad
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Re: Mark Kozelek vs. The War on Drugs

Post by Brad »

Please note my douche comment refers to his handling of the entire situation, NOT the song per se. It's just my opinion. It's selective, as i acknowledged.
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