“What were they thinking?” That was local music influencer Sarah Jones’ first reaction after listening to the new album “Everything is So Trash” by well known local indie rockers: The Annoying Few. “It’s almost like they don’t get music at all any more. It’s like political commentary and being extreme has taken a back seat to likable melodies and relatable lyrics. So cringe.”

“TAF used to be all about not caring if people liked their music or not. Now it seems like they’re Ok with people liking their music. A real band would resent their fans, their fame and their own music. That’s how you can tell they are real artists.”

Jones had been a long-time Annoyer (What fans of The Annoying Few call themselves). ”TAF had several albums of music that most people would find pretty much offensive to their ears and grading on their nerves. Being an Annoyer used to mean having a more sophisticated musical sensibility than “most people”. We loved TAF’s music because it was hard to listen to and grading. In a sense, we ironically hated it so much, we liked it.”

Well those days are over. With the new album, Jones has found herself actually liking the album’s songs and not even ironically. She enjoyed listening to the music, and, unfortunately, so did most of her friends. Suddenly Jones found that ironically liking the new album just didn’t feel authentic but nor did ironically hating it. How could she continue to support a band that had obviously sold out their artistic integrity by put out music that was unironically likable?

Luckily, Jones has recently discovered a little know new local band, “Doug and the Smug,” that is experimenting with making music from completely indistinguishable grunts and tones. They are combining this sound with tediously detailed lyrics and non-sensical melody arrangements. Jones has high hopes that the this new album will be not only wildly unpopular but will also be at least mostly likable in an ironic way.