OP-ED: Ariel Pink, Frank Zappa & The Honesty In Vulgarity

In defense of Ariel Pink, guest contributor Justin Joffe has offered his thoughts on one of the most controversial men currently in the forefront of indie music.

Ariel Pink released his newest LP, Pom Pom, last week. It wasn’t with a quiet press release but a heady PR clusterfuck of tacky, tinseltown themed events, an interview where he slammed Madonna while saying he was hired to write songs for her, and a cheeky Pitchfork quiz where his quotes are matched against those of Republican talking head Glenn Beck. This continuous barrage of Pink in the news was a lot for music fans to take in by simply perusing their favorite music websites. Canadian electro-pop sorceress Grimes condemned Pink’s “delusional misongyny” for the Madonna comments on Twitter, and Myspace even dubbed him “The Most Hated Man In Indie Rock Right Now.”

“But honestly this was all probably just a publicity stunt to promote his new record. Eyerolllll/whatever,” wrote Kristen Yoonsoo Kim in the Myspace piece. Perhaps she echoed a sentiment many music fans were feeling- how starved for attention is this dude? What’s his deal?

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Another question- is it fair to not assume that Pink, who has been actively recording since 1996 and releasing records on esteemed British label 4AD for five years, has no method to his madness? Look only to his lyrics on Pom Pom track “Lipstick” for a clue into his often overbearing self-awareness:

“Who is this? Who am I? What is this? Truth is this, that it lies. Truth exists!”

Many have singled him out as an example of a tired misogynistic tone embraced by the music industry, but such claims fall short when taking his actions verbatim. From the Madonna incident to a time when Pink stated he was maced by a feminist, some critics condemn Pink’s casual comments of his interactions with women as part of a larger problem. Many of those who consider there might be some intention behind his actions simultaneously condemn them because of their ugliness. Pink takes everyone and everything equally non-seriously, not just women. Here’s the problem, as they see it: If his work is all a joke, how can it be criticized?

But nowhere in his work does Pink try to condemn his critics in return. He arguably encourages it, even if he doesn’t care. Does this make Pink a troll? It depends if you think the conversation is worth having or not. What’s important to consider is that just because he instigates a dialogue around something, that doesn’t mean he himself is guilty of what everyone is so upset about. If the same people who don’t take Pink seriously are seriously offended by what he has to say, are they truly looking at his persona objectively?

Pink has earned comparisons to the jazz/psych/satirical excretions of the legendary Frank Zappa for some time now, comparisons which took a stylistic influence on his 2012 album Mature Themes. Both Zappa and Pink wrote songs with fast transitions, scatological vulgarities peppered with crooning, sentimental, often tender turns. Pink may be a legacy of the “chillwave” movement, but his latest effort steps that sound up with some serious Zappa guitars. Both men sang of plastic people and revelations about the media, in interviews and in verse. Pink’s public persona, like Zappa’s is much more revealing when you view him as an extension of the themes in his music.

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“Me see a neon moon above, I searched for years I found no love. I’m sure that love will never be, a product of plasticity.” – Frank Zappa, “Plastic People”

The Mature Themes track “Kinski Assasins” contains the lines: “Australian-made nibblers with the steam-pocket slacks, back-lit jacuzzi want to fondle your ass, suicide dumplings dropping testicle bombs, kick out some technicolor talk to your moms.” By speaking intelligently about the vulgar, Pink’s songs cause the listener to reflect on all the ways in which deep ideas are explored in music through superficial personalities. The fact that Mature Themes was not labeled with a parental advisory warning make it worth considering that Pink might be holding the mirror to what little left is able to shock us in 2014. It is really an artistic debate only music fans will likely feel is worth having. Just because something is ugly, doesn’t mean it’s inaccurate.

“You can’t always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.” – Frank Zappa

Pink’s early records embrace the ugliness of tape hiss and field noise, and as his production budget went up lyrical subtext became part of the joke, too. Lyrics are often lost on the listener, but he made sure they were high up in his mixes. While crooning, “I’m afraid, you’re afraid. And we die and we live and we’re born again. Turn me inside out, what can I say?” It’s hard to deny he has not foreseen such backlash toward his persona.

“All the good music had already been written by people with wigs and stuff.” – Frank Zappa

History will always view work that shakes up the status quo and pushes the public out of their comfort zones as art, first and foremost. And to whatever degree we look at pop music as a mirror of our culture, capable of substance- it is worth considering that Pink is aware of this power, and working to consciously address it in his music.

To deny the man has anything to say on the matter of media and celebrity when he clearly has the vocabulary and the skills to prove he is culturally informed is just denial of what is presented before us. Whether or not you care about and value what Pink has to say, however, is another matter.

Written by Justin Joffe — follow him on Twitter

Derek Scancarelli
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