Tynan's Anger

SONGS OF THE DECADE #21

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

Maldroid - Heck No! (I'll Never Listen To Techno) (2006)



Duran Duran was considered the first video band with the rise of MTV. Maldroid may be the first streaming video band with the rise of YouTube. Most people probably haven't heard of them even though they have millions upon millions of views on their YouTube page. The bandmates had never even met all in one place until they were on Good Day San Francisco after their first video struck viral gold. Their musical style is exactly in tune with the YouTube user base: nerdy, techie, creative, weird, and most of all, uninhibited. Their videos, which have earned their status, are elaborate enough to match their audience's deceptively high demands. Their musical style is contrived polemics, a reduction of the same polemics Devo contrived 30 years ago.

And their music, well, freaking rocks. "(Heck No!) I'll Never Listen To Techno," isn't Maldroid's YouTube "chart-topper," but it's their best song by my (ridiculously biased) account, and I'm probably the only one whose going to include Maldroid on any song of the decade list outside of the Bay Area anyway. Why do I do that? Because Maldroid uses the technology of our times to advance themselves, but they do so for the purposes of good (their music), not evil (their "brand"). In this case the good is an actually great song to match the mental health break of a cheesy YouTube video. If only every YouTube video took this much skill to compile.

Labels: 2000s, heck no i'll never listen to techno, lists, maldroid, pop music, songs of the decade