Dept. Of You Two Deserve Each Other: Steven Wells Vs. Emo Christians
This is something we’ve touched upon many, many times on Philebrity, but until now, there’s never been a proper primer on it: Large sections of the hipster population you wade through daily in Philadelphia contain a dark undercurrent of young people (it always seems like transplants) who’ve been sucked into this weird emo/hipster variety of Christianity that plays fast and loose with both the central tenets of fundamentalism and what you or I would handily recognize as classic cultish traits. Those beardos on fixed gears that you see whizzing up Frankford Avenue? Often, those are not merely Deerhoof fans, my friend; sometimes, they are WEIRD PUNK ROCK CHRISTIANS! (And sometimes, BOTH!) At the center of the Strange Emo Christian Sect That Has Made The Rocket Cat Pretty Much Unbearable To Go To Anymore are two things: Circle Of Hope, which is one of those churches that is like, why no, silly, we’re not really a church! We are “a network of cells and congregations,” which is like, well, thanks for using the language of radical Islam on your splash page to make me feel better. And the other thing is this band mewithoutyou (pictured), who are basically the Fugazi of fucking insanely repressed indie kids who need nothing more, usually, than a weekend full of rough sex, alcohol and mild drugs to snap them out of it, but for some reason just can’t cross the threshold. Now, I know, this is coming off as mean, but it’s hard not to be: Self-righteousness (and outright clueless disregard for any kind of self-awareness) runs rampant in this crowd, and at the end of 8 years of Bush rule, please pardon me if it makes me pissy to think that this fucked repressive cloud has finally, definitively, infected the underground, such as it is. Thing is, I don’t think I’m the only one. In the cover story today in Philadelphia Weekly, Steven Wells spends some time as a fly on the wall on the mewithoutyou bus, and at the Circle Of Hope. It’s vaguely terrifying, and not just because of mewithoutyou singer Aaron Weiss‘ self-flagellating on-again/off-again messianic histrionics. But I won’t spoil it for you. Take a look for yourself, and wonder if maybe these emo Christians aren’t so bad after all: They spent a week on a bus with Wells, and somehow managed not to kill him.
PW: Jesus Is Just Alright
September 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I dont get your continued angst for circle kids? Were’nt you in The Trouble with Sweeney on Burnt Toast Vinyl? That’s a christian Label….maybe your just pissed at yourself.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I think Scott at BTV would be surprised to learn that, Blak. And for that matter, so would I. While some BTV artists rolled in that crowd, we were always assured that BTV as a label was a country unto itself, as secular as Bill Maher’s cufflinks. As for what precisely my own angst is about Circle of Hope is, well, it’s pretty much laid out in this post.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I’ll give it to you. circle kids are weird. But most of them are focused on feeding the homeless and getting health care for everyone and that ain’t bad. I’ve never been to a service, and aaron is…strange. But josh is an awesome guy to get a beer with and watch the eagles. they have good intentions and usually aren’t all that aligned with the current administration on just about anything. So no matter how weird they still belong in this damned city.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Buddy, what a way to be vague/subliminal with the end of your last sentence.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I don’t understand the disdain for these kids either. They may be a bit weird, but they’re out there fighting the good faith for the most part and they never struck me as particularly self-righteous.
I remember I went to one of the music fests geared towards these kids years ago (Purple Doors Fest? somewhere near Harrisburg/Lancaster?) and BTV was there with a merch table. It seemed to me that the label was pretty heavily invested into the whole Christian indie rock scene, as a bunch of groups on their roster were playing that day.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
er, that should say fighting the good “fight” obviously.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:29 am
“fighting the good fight for the most part and they never struck me as particularly self-righteous.”
Lolwut? Jeeeebus save me! I’m sure you dont mean to come across as such but, what is this fight you speak of? Why is there always this “fight”? How can you fight a good fight and not be self rightous too? Does it work like this : someone beats you up then apologizes that it was their fault?
Screw all that noise.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
i call shenanigans. we all know that what makes the Rocket Cat unbearable is not the Circle kids, but the high prices and slow service.
ZING!
September 27th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I’ve seen nothing but humility, tolerance and all around well-adjustedness among the folks I’ve met from Circle of Hope, Psalters and MeWithoutYou. The quality of art that comes out of this group is impressive as well, as it’s grounded in honest spirituality and selflessness. Really, they’re not judging us, we’re judging them.
Lighten up. Introduce yourself. These are good folks.