Guys, help me out here…

Usually this wouldn't be my thing, but I've been strangely into this group over the last few weeks since seeing them on Letterman -- but I can't articulate why.

Do they suck and I'm just having a temporary, hype–fuelled fixation… or is there something fresh and anti–mainstream going on?

Dude...why does going against mainstream automatically mean be freaky and give me nightmares :) they aren't terrible. I been obsessed lately with a band called Alt-J check out their song 'Fitzpleasure'

@tgaunson I shouldn't have used the word "anti-mainstream". Not *anti* – I think they just don't care (as much) about success defined by record sales, and are driven by some other definition of success (I'd suggest: being representatives of the Zef subculture in Sth Africa, and "coolness" as defined by that subculture).

So regarding freaky clips, I think it flows like this:
- don't care (as much) about album sales
- don't *need* to be on MTV ➡ don't have to make PG clip
- have option to be different
- be different for the sake of being different, because it's a "competitative advantage" over the Biebers of the world
- recognition w/out Bieber's budget b/c YouTube disrupted MTV

➡ *Pro-mainstream* artificially lowers # of freaky clips 😉

…and that may explain part of my fascination. I can see some strong parallels between this and the early Seattle scene:

- creatives within a subculture
- ambivalent towards the culture at large
- driven largely by recognition within their subculture

If the subculture resonates with the population (possible, but unlikely with Zef) the leaders of that subculture become Nirvana/Bob Marley/Beatles/Charlie Parker/Robert Johnson…

@tgaunson & @jdowton: Does this pattern jibe with the origins of rap?