This may sound bad to some of our contributors, but AFI, and specifically, Davey Havok (lead singer of the band), have never appeared more hetero than here on their new video. This is a very good thing.
If you recall, I did a live play-by-play review of AFI's new album, Crash Love...drunk. And, even though I gave it lower marks than 2006's December Underground at the time, I now recant that statement and say this is AFI's best work since Sing The Sorrow, and no, this is not because of the new video (entirely). I've had time to listen to the new album, and it's very good. When December Underground came out, I had to finish crying before I could listen again, because I was so disappointed.
Where before, Davey Havok was a mythical being, shroud in makeup and costume, the new video for the single "Medicate" from their newest album, presents us, the fans, with yet another image of Davey, but unlike the hyper real fantasy that was Davey on December Underground, we are actually given a life like impression on who Davey is. He's very Morrissey here, and completely awesome.
From the beginning, any AFI fan will instantly see that we are not looking at a makeup clad singer, but an actual person. And, surprise, Davey is actually a very dapper gentleman. It's important to recognize that Mr. Havok is not young any more. He's far past his Crimson Ghost days, and well better than his three inch eyelash days of December Underground. And what has he given us? A handsome man in a two piece, well fitting suite with golden shoes. I was astonished, for the good.
No makeup, a bit of, dare I say it, stubble - it looks as though our Davey has finally accepted that he's a man, and not a boy. Word's still out on Jade, who's rockin' the Jon and Kate, Plus 8 haircut of said Kate.
And how awesome is it that Hunter, the bassist, is getting his face plastered all over this thing, after getting basically pushed aside in December Underground.
I don't know why I'm gushing like this, but I'm just so excited about AFI's future, and this video is a definite step in the right direction.
If you recall, I did a live play-by-play review of AFI's new album, Crash Love...drunk. And, even though I gave it lower marks than 2006's December Underground at the time, I now recant that statement and say this is AFI's best work since Sing The Sorrow, and no, this is not because of the new video (entirely). I've had time to listen to the new album, and it's very good. When December Underground came out, I had to finish crying before I could listen again, because I was so disappointed.
Where before, Davey Havok was a mythical being, shroud in makeup and costume, the new video for the single "Medicate" from their newest album, presents us, the fans, with yet another image of Davey, but unlike the hyper real fantasy that was Davey on December Underground, we are actually given a life like impression on who Davey is. He's very Morrissey here, and completely awesome.
From the beginning, any AFI fan will instantly see that we are not looking at a makeup clad singer, but an actual person. And, surprise, Davey is actually a very dapper gentleman. It's important to recognize that Mr. Havok is not young any more. He's far past his Crimson Ghost days, and well better than his three inch eyelash days of December Underground. And what has he given us? A handsome man in a two piece, well fitting suite with golden shoes. I was astonished, for the good.
No makeup, a bit of, dare I say it, stubble - it looks as though our Davey has finally accepted that he's a man, and not a boy. Word's still out on Jade, who's rockin' the Jon and Kate, Plus 8 haircut of said Kate.
And how awesome is it that Hunter, the bassist, is getting his face plastered all over this thing, after getting basically pushed aside in December Underground.
I don't know why I'm gushing like this, but I'm just so excited about AFI's future, and this video is a definite step in the right direction.
The words "hetero" and "Morrissey" don't belong in the same blog post, unless "hetero" is modified by "not."
ReplyDeleteCan someone not be dapper looking gentleman like Morrissey and still be hetero at the same time?
ReplyDeleteThe mystery surrounding Morrissey's sexuality is far deeper and complex than that surrounding Davey Havok's (from what I can tell), but what the followers of AFI have become used to - whether we like it or not - is with each record, Davey reinvents himself visually/stylistically, and this newest incarnation is my favorite since he was wearing a devil lock a la The Misfits.
Davey just looks very mature at the moment, and lends, in my opinion, some much needed credibility after parading around dressed like a sort of drag queen for December Underground.
A well fitted suit can go along way.
I think we're mostly on the same page, but I think your first paragraph incorrectly frames the discussion, and it does indeed "sound bad" to me. It's sort of like saying "no offense but you're ugly." A well-fitted suit can indeed go a long way, but to describe that as "hetero" style is mistaken. When I think hetero style I think of khaki shorts and flip flops (not that there's anything wrong with that). Open up any gay style magazine and every other photo will feature a model dressed similarly to how Mr. Havok is dressed above (probably without those unfortunate shoes). Good luck finding someone dressed like he used to dress unless it's a special emo edition. I'm not saying a nice suit is a particularly homo style either, as I like to believe such a simple, classic look transcends that kind of label.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, from what I've seen, Davey Havok used to dress more like some Hot Topic nightmare than a drag queen. People assume that when a style comes along that involves glitter and nail polish it must have come from the gays, but that's usually not the case. It's usually a way for some straight teenage boys to try to look like different and stand out. Gay men who are style conscious usually are just trying to look good, not like little douchey vampire boners.
And lastly, someone certainly can be a dapper looking gentleman like Morrissey and be hetero, but to try to co-opt him of all people into your new hetero style is just...wrong. I don't go around saying Dave Matthews looks like a homo.
I do believe that we're mostly on the same page, but this discussion traces farther back to when AFI morphed into Miss Murder.
ReplyDeleteI can recall when December Underground came out, the first word that came to my mind then was, and whether this is unfortunate or not doesn't make me less reticent to say it, "gay." This was principally because of the way the album was being presented, black bunnies and all, by Davey and Jade, both of whom, for a while, appeared quite “gay” or, likely more appropriate, metrosexual at the utmost extreme. And this tainted my expectations to anything AFI would come out with in the future.
Having an in, so to speak, in the straight community at large (as if we speak of it that way, which we don't, but nonetheless) “metro” is essentially gay to most straight people. This in itself may land me in hot water with you, and the metro's. But, for white-bread, American men who do wear cargo shorts with flip flops and attend Dave Mathew concerts, and would rather die than pluck their eyebrows in fear of being looked at as a "queer," (of which I am not one), this much is true.
A truer example could not be found than my older brother Paul. He's the guy who got me into AFI. He’s also the one who picks on me for my groomed brows.
In high school he had the mohawk, the nose ring, tattoos, and booze, and everything. The "hardcore" style he adopted predated the popularity of Hot Topic, which essentially hijack the Punk Rock look and made if very fashionable for said little douchey vampire boners of the Twilight generation, as we both can agree on. All of which in itself is funny because of an aptly named debut full length album from AFI released way back in ’95, Answer That and Stay Fashionable.
ReplyDeleteSo, when Paul heard Underground, his reaction was much the same as mine, “what happened to AFI? When did they get all gay?” This is an odd question, in itself, as I’ll explain below. But, this was a fairly uniform reaction from others I spoke with, who were straight.
Now, compare our reaction with your reaction, when I expressed my opinion that December Underground was gay, you demurred said you did not think it was gay.
It’s no surprise that those cargo wearing straights find gay fashion distasteful, or better described, uncomfortable to look at, and this would explain their reactions, to a degree, to December Underground.
Now, I won’t try and say that Davey Havok has been “straight looking” before December Underground. Dating back to 1999’s Black Sails in the Sunset, Davey has taken on a more ambiguous role, visually, which coincides with the time frame when Jade Puget joined the band. This bit of ambiguity continued to get more and more effeminate with each new record, finding its apex with 2006’s December Underground. But it also gave us the best AFI record of all, Sing the Sorrow.
That such straight listeners, like Paul, were able to handle everything prior to Underground, but reacted negatively to Davey post Underground, may be a statement on their limits to tolerate something that makes them uncomfortable. Or, more likely, that much of the rancor was to AFI dissolving into something more about style and looking a certain way (gay), than actually making good music. That they were consciously targeting little douchey vampire boners. Can you say “sellout?” Now, here is where you argue, they look Hot Topic-ee not gay. To that I say, people like Paul don’t discern the two for the most part.
With all this bashing I’m doing on December Underground, it’s important to note, it’s a great album, it’s just not the AFI we all grew up with. It was hard to deal with, but in the end, they still made solid tracks, despite all the visual gimmicktry, but those gimmicks almost overshadow the music product.
ReplyDeleteNow, I will contradict myself here a bit, but AFI has always been about style, from taking up the Misfit’s banner to the present, as I have deemed, Morrissey-esque look. But, I don’t think I’ve dissed the whole gay community by stating what I perceive as a fact – Davey Havok looks less gay in the new video, “Medicate” than he did for any video from December Underground. And maybe by less gay, I should say, more masculine. And there is another point of contention, can gay be masculine? No doubt, but in popular culture, gays are hardly portrayed as masculine for the most part.
With that said, I’ve wandered down some rabbit holes and haven’t directly responded to the criticism, but I believe the background is important.
I don’t think I framed the post incorrectly, when I made the statement that AFI appeared more hetero than ever before. It was not a knock on gay culture, nor an attempt to hijack their style, not that it is their style.
To which I agree with you, a well fitted suit knows no sexuality, it just looks sharp. And that was the point really. Davey looks sharp. He looks like a well dressed man. Being as such, is not a hetero style. I can show you similar straight magazines, say GQ, where all the ads are of men in great suits, that I wish I had, but cannot afford, sadly – one day, though.
My intent was to exhale a sigh of relief, relieved that AFI appears to have shed the “gay” look, because to me, Davey walking around with his hair the way it was with fake eyelashes stretching inches from his eyes, very effeminate makeup, with Jade hanging on him, and the music taking on the mood it did, AFI started to look like a bunch of Drag Queens, and if I may say so, it was indeed quite “gay” looking. (I don’t know the percentages, but I’ll assume that most Drag Queens are gay men, but if I’m wrong, then so what, they still look gay to regular straight guys)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, by gay here, I was wondering to an extent if Davey and Jade were intimate. Whether they were or not, I don’t care, all I knew was that it was getting harder to follow AFI because their music was just so…gay.
Where was the hardcore? The obvious answer is, AFI grew up and took a new direction, which given everything they had done previous, should not have been a surprise.
With Crash Love, I was doubtful from the start with the cover of the album. But to see the band taking such a 180 visually, was so refreshing.
So, it may be more correct to state that the new look, with the suit and all, appears more masculine than metro, and being less metro is to be less "gay." Not to say, that all gay is metro.
sorry, had to do multiple posts...
ReplyDeleteI take your point that, to many people, any style for men that seems feminine will be thought of as "gay." I just believe that it is not an accurate description, so I feel compelled to register my disagreement. I also don't believe metrosexual would be an accurate term either. To me, metrosexual implies plucking your eyebrows, manscaping, and wearing sharp suits, not glitter and "Jon & Kate Plus 8" haircuts. However, like you said, many people don't feel that way. I guess "femme" or "glam" would make more sense to me. I know I can't change the way everyone throws around the word "gay," but I can say my piece.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I should just say that I really, really hate the style you're referring to as "gay" in this discussion, so It really chafes my rear to be lumped in with it, however indirectly. I know you mean no offense, and I'm having fun debating this issue, but I feel very strongly about it.