About bands that spam their free album on social networking sites

First up is the band Bark Bark Disco. They sent me a friend request on last.fm, and of course I accepted. I always listen to free tunes and accept friend requests. Their debut Your Mum Says Hello! is available for free download on their website. Despite their clearly derivative style and a "genre" they invented for themselves, it's simple and catchy lo-fi indie pop. They bare similarities to The Vaselines, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, The Moldy Peaches, Beat Happening, et cetera. It's not spectacular and it won't change your life, but if you dig the aforementioned bands and you dislike that three of them broke up and one of them released a crappy album last year, then this will hold you over until another silly lo-fi band comes along. Also, their first music video is amusing.

The second band that contacted me was The Urban Effect. They followed me on Twitter (You should do that too.) So I went to their twitter and found a link to their homepage, from which I could download their self-titled debut. Bark Bark Disco is mediocre; I can't deny that. At least they're a fun band, though, creating sing-along tunes about sex and love. Rather than being mediocre and fun, The Urban Effect is just plain mediocre. Their Myspace page lists their influence as "Pink Floyd, The Doors, Radiohead, Queen, Elliot Smith, Portishead." I don't think one could pick bands that are more popular than that. This results in an album full of vaguely progressive, melodramatic rock that just sounds like a weak version of dredg. (By the way, I tweeted this band back and told them that dredg is better.) One more humorously pretentious thing from their Myspace:

"4 Individuals 4 different backgrounds 1 Musical direction. Our passion for eclectic melodic songs have permeated in our rythms, harmonies and souls. Our first Album is a reflection on each of our unique perspectives on life, love, war and most importantly un-deterable melody. It's much more than just the release of our compiled material . It's us hitting the ground running, or falling out of a window."

Why is there some sort of taboo against criticizing obscure bands? I've gotten a little yelled at on last.fm for suggesting that lesser-known bands are weak sometimes. Every demo on Lyrics Will Not Reach the Audience gets a review of "They're pretty good. Check them out if you like (x band)," regardless of the band's actual quality. So this is a message to any musicians who read my blog: Send me your music. I won't bullshit you and tell you that it's good if it isn't.