What is it with America? Ok, that’s a ludicrously broad question. More specifically, what is it with rock music’s obsession with America, not just as a place but, more abstract terms, the concept of America? Whereas there’s something of a love/hate relationship between the west of the world and America – and that even extends to the sharper end of the American population, rock music has created a whole mythology around America – a sort of quasi-utopian rock version of the American dream.
‘American Circus’ pretty much encapsulates everything that’s wrong with not only America, but with the kind of rock music that’s stuck in the 80s. With their gelled hair and mirrored aviators, Violet Gibson might not look like Whitesnake or Bon Jovi, but the singer’s wearing a waistcoat with no shirt underneath and guitarist’s Guns ‘n Roses T-shirt are dead giveaways.
Violet Gibson claim their thing is all about power and melody. What they mean is that they’re all about the clichés of rock. The gritty-throated vocals, the chugga-chugga guitars, the widdly solos… And check the titles, man: ‘Original Sinner’; ‘She Feels Alive’; ‘Your Balls on Fire’. Not to mention the lyrics: from the fist-pumping positivity of ‘Go Ahead’ (‘Hey ya know it’s what you feel / just go ‘n let it flow’) to the empty refrain of the title track (‘So take a ride in the American Circus / I can see you face to face / And we’ll be friends in the American Circus / Will you send me an s.o.s.?’) it’s bollocks from beginning to end.
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The cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Supersition’ – surely one of the most overcovered songs going – is utterly lacking in imagination and pretty much sums up the cornball crud Violet Gibson represent.
Violet Gibson Online
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