My favorite thing about me starting this blog was that I got back into the scene in hearing and learning about newer acts that I would usually not have heard of. Today (from idieyoudie's site as usual) I learned about Santa Hates You which is a project between Peter Spilles of Project Pitchfork and an Italian Vocalist named Jinxy.
Many folks know that my two favorite industrial genres are "completely insane shit" and "music that makes fun of itself." OK, those aren't real genres but fuck that, this is industrial, I say what I want. And let's be honest, us mad folks need our black clad role models and we love to make fun of ourselves.
Anyways, back to Santa Hates You. So, with my limited experience it has this awesome sound with cheesey lyrics that also sometimes border on something from an mental hospital's art room in the poetry section. It also seems to not take itself seriously at all, while still sounding badass. Which, of course, makes it fucking amazing.
I didn't know how to write about it in the lens of anti-oppression for this blog. But then, a lightbulb went off when watching this video:
I'm always getting pissed about the portrayal and objectification of women in industrial videos. I complain that they are always skinny white girls in tight vinyl, often making out with each other for the dudes, and that is their only purpose in the eyes of the creators of the videos, and often the audience. But here, we have Jinxy. She's got that stereotypically attractive thing going on (ie if she lost the goth paint she could model in a magazine) but she is an integral part of this music and the videos. She's doing her own thing. It is sexy and hot, and of course beat dudes make comments about "wanting her for Xmas" and shit on the videos. But she's not a prop. She is a musician. She and PS are making this music together, and it is very obvious to me when I watch their videos that she is seen in that role and is being portrayed as half of Santa Hates You, not as PS' hot groupie who sings sometimes.
So, in my opinion, this is the difference between women just being used because they are sexy to be eye candy in videos, and women making music who happen to also be sexy, who are respected for their music. Get it?
Feel free to argue with me. Arguments can be made that often only attractive people get jobs as singers. The band's website says:
"Members and founders of the band are the musical icon Peter "PS" Spilles and the enigmatic italian vocalist Jinxy. Legend has it that they first met at the Ohlsdorfer Cemetery in Hamburg, where it is said that they accidentally 'scared the hell out of each other'. Apparently it was then that PS noticed Jinxy's unusual voice, and, well, it seems safe to say that he was quite intrigued by what he heard."
I am gonna believe this to be true, in part because of my love for Pitchfork and their anti-oppression lyrical tendencies (which have been mentioned before in this blog) and also because she is quite interesting and talented from what I have listened to so far.
And PS ain't too shabby looking himself is he?
