Hinder Pisses Me Off

Hey, remember when a piece of art didn't constantly provoke you to the question the intentions of its creator?

Me neither.


I was reading the fine piece of literature that is Blender last night (to answer your question, it's a free subscription, and I can't eat dinner without some sort of reading material) when I was drawn to an in-the-studio interview with Hinder, who have inexplicably sold three million records in their short existence off the heels of thoughtless, misogynistic dude-rock. Here's the article, courtesy of Blender's Web site:

Hard-rock horn dogs Hinder “let it all hang out” on their second album.

Josh Eells

Blender April 24 2008

Hinder, the Oklahoma dude-rock quintet, are making their new album in Vancouver, B.C.—but not in any place you’ll find in a guidebook. “We’re somewhere on the border between Cracktown and Herointown,” says singer Austin Winkler. “When we go out for a smoke, there’s hookers on the corner. And not the kind of hookers you want to be messing with.”

On the strength of their pro-adultery power ballad “Lips of an Angel,” the band’s first album sold more than 3 million copies—no thanks to the suits, of course. “The label guy didn’t even want ‘Lips’ on the record,” Winkler says. “We told him to fuck off. Now we’ve got nothing but green lights.” Sonically, they’re aiming for a rawer, more live sound, what Winkler calls “bigger and better.” Thematically, though, they’re sticking to the time-tested motif of girls, girls, girls. “‘Use Me’ is about a guy getting used by a chick, and he likes it,” he says. “‘One Last Kiss Goodbye’ is about a guy who’s leaving his girl because she’s been banging another dude behind his back the whole time. And ‘Take It to the Limit,’ which we’re trying to get Mick Mars to play on, is kind of AC/DC, but a little more melodic—one of those could-be-about-a-girl-or-could-be-about-a-car songs. If NASCAR doesn’t end up using it, they’re stupid.”

The guys are finding plenty of ways to blow off steam in the Great White North—local nightclub the Roxy is a particular favorite—but Winkler isn’t confining his partying to the evening hours. “I actually like to get a little annihilated when I record,” he says. “Get loose, let it all hang out. It’s a pretty good excuse to get slaughtered at 3 P.M. Like, ‘Dudes, I’m working here!’”

All About Our Album
Producer: Brian Howes
Studio: Van Howes Studio, Vancouver, B.C.
Last Album: Extreme Behavior, 2005
New Album: Take It to the Limit, due summer 2008

The ignorance and garbage that comes out of this guy's mouth is either a result of piss-poor media training, or indicative of just how big of douchebag he is. I'm leaning toward the latter. The band makes me sick to my stomach, but not because they're sonically worse than a third-rate Nickelback (who themselves are pioneers of the perplexing success story,) but because of the sheer disregard they seem to have for any sort of meaning in their music. Case in point:

“One Last Kiss Goodbye’ is about a guy who’s leaving his girl because she’s been banging another dude behind his back the whole time. And ‘Take It to the Limit,’ which we’re trying to get Mick Mars to play on, is kind of AC/DC, but a little more melodic—one of those could-be-about-a-girl-or-could-be-about-a-car songs. If NASCAR doesn’t end up using it, they’re stupid.”

There's no use in analyzing this any further. These guys are smart. They realize that no thought is necessary at all as long as they make lots of money, so that they can subsequently blow it on drugs and sex. Good job, guys. Meanwhile, I'll be living in a box in two years and asses like this will have six-car garages.

Oh, and Mr. Winkler, regarding your album title, a certain Randy Meisner would like to have a word with you.

- Andrew Daniels