Podcast Episode Review: Your Favorite Band Sucks - The Misfits
Artwork by Liz Benjamin
by Emily Bunn
The Misfits are the perfect band to listen to around Halloween, although I typically listen to them all year. The upbeat yet horrific bops this “horror punk” band has produced has always drawn me to their music. Smash hits like “Last Caress” and “Hybrid Moments” introduced me to the band, but after diving into their discography I was both impressed and captured by their gothic, punk aesthetic and sound. The Misfits seemed wholly unique to me, I until listened to the podcast, ‘Your Favorite Band Sucks”. “Your Favorite Band Sucks” is a podcast run by two cynical, comedic music aficionados, Mark and Tyler. Referring to The Misfits as the “mall-punk” band, Mark and Tyler of “Your Favorite Band Sucks” start their episode by declaring that The Misfits are lucky they’re even reviewing them. The duo begins by calling The Misfits fans “total posers” and comparing the punk-ness of The Misfits to the metal-ness of Nickelback. Even by “punk standards,” Mark and Tyler say The Misfits are just “bad”.
The major point made throughout the 25-minute podcast is the monotony of the band’s discography. One point that “Your Favorite Band Sucks” is that The Misfits were better when Danzig was in the band. I do agree that Danzig’s signature, obscure, dramatic vocals made the Misfits unique. However, after listening to much of the Misfit’s discography after considering this podcast, I’ve realized that a lot of their music does, in fact, translate to be similar across songs. Almost the entirety of the band’s album, “Famous Monsters” offers little variety in between power chord guitar solos and rantings about killing monsters and conducted witch hunts. The best song off “Famous Monsters” is “Saturday Night”, which expresses teenage feelings of loneliness and lovesickness, with relatable emotion that other Misfits songs lack in exchange for recurrent scary stories. The same spooky, rockabilly sound -- while unique on its own-- becomes somewhat stale after several albums of the same scary material and basic riffs. Jump-scares stop being spooky when you know that they’re coming.
“Your Favorite Band Sucks” claims the horror-punk appearance of The Misfits is just for theatrics. The “phantasmagoria” apparent on Static Age, though nearly within all Misfits songs, is completely enigmatic of the band. Despite Mark and Tyler’s retort about the band ’s music being copied from horror movies, the innovation behind The Misfit’s instrumentation is truly dark and unique. Mark and Tyler both also claim that Danzig’s energy and appearance has remained true throughout his career. Although Danzig was only in The Misfits for six years, the same sound, imagery, and horror-inspired lyrics still remain even in his solo career. Danzig sings and performs with fierce passion and honesty while refreshing at first, becomes boring after a few songs. The Misfits might be great to listen to in October around Halloween, but their sound might be growing repetitive after the months over.
Your Favorite Band Sucks ends by saying that The Misfits can be summed up in one song: “Last Caress.” Even though I think it's important to also highlight the catchy paunchiness of “Hybrid Moments” and the angst-riddled within “Where Eagles Dare,” The Misfits offer but a few other songs that really stand out from a discography covered in cobwebs. Mark and Tyler, while comedically negative, were successfully able to uncover some truth while complaining about how much The Misfits suck. “Your Favorite Band Sucks” revealed the monotony of fantasmic horror punk after a few stand out songs, and after really digging deep into their discography, I can now admit that The Misfits suck.