# The hipster's dilemma. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753 "2008-06-04T13:54:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZenDenizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/fbc32d/32.png) [@ZenDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/21 "2008-06-04T19:17:34Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I really like that new Coldplay song, Viva La Vida . OMG, how am I gonna break it to my peers? [/QUOTE] Remember, Klostermann says there are no guilty pleasures, just own up to it. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/22 "2008-06-04T19:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] I’m horribly unhip, but I want to learn. Can someone explain to me why it’s hip not to like ColdPlay? I seem to remember when they first appeared on the music scene all the alternative music radio stations were soiling their pants over them. [/QUOTE] See, this is why I refuse to play this game. When I was working at KEXP–arguably the world’s hippest indie radio station–they played a lot of Coldplay, and I loved them. (Being a Jeff Buckley fan, and Coldplay sounding at least in earlier days pretty much like a JB tribute band.) Then, what the lead singer had Gwyneth Paltrow’s baby and suddenly we’re not allowed to like them anymore? Fuck that. I don’t have to try that hard to be hip; I just naturally am. ( 😛 ) So I like what I like, and anyone who has to pretend they don’t, just to appear to be hip, can kiss my entire ass. I also like Fiona Apple, Marilyn Manson, and Doris Day. So eat me. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/23 "2008-06-04T19:30:25Z")
[QUOTE=ZenDenizen] Remember, Klostermann says there are no guilty pleasures, just own up to it. [/QUOTE] I have said this very thing in this very forum, more than once. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/24 "2008-06-04T19:51:58Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] I’m horribly unhip, but I want to learn. Can someone explain to me why it’s hip not to like ColdPlay? I seem to remember when they first appeared on the music scene all the alternative music radio stations were soiling their pants over them. [/QUOTE] Coldplay kind of has the reputation of being, let’s see, kinda alternative adult-contemporary, non-threatening, stuff soccer moms would listen to. It’s alternative music for NPR listeners. There’s also criticisms of the music being very bland and boring. That said, I think they get unfairly maligned. I haven’t heard enough of the new single to form an opinion on it, but songs like “Yellow” and “Clocks” are gorgeous, well-crafted pop tunes. Their broader catalog does start to sound a little samey to me, so I’m happy to see them taking a slightly different sonic direction with this latest single. ---
**Author:** ![jay-c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jay-c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jay-c)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/25 "2008-06-04T20:07:27Z")
The new album is released 12-June. I’m on vacation, in either the desert or mountains from 6-June through 15-June, which means I’ll have little cell/internet/phone service. I’ve been whining for a week now about needing to find a wireless hotspot so that I can connect to iTunes via my iPhone and download it. _hangs head in shame_ ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/26 "2008-06-04T20:29:37Z")
Doesn’t Coldplay get a pass for being Radiohead Lite? Besides, in the grand scheme of things that will result in your ironic t-shirt privileges being revoked, that’s nothing. I know all the lyrics to Britney Spears’ first album. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/27 "2008-06-04T20:45:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] Doesn’t Coldplay get a pass for being Radiohead Lite?[/SIZE] [/QUOTE] I always held that against them and really never gave them due credit, probably since they became bigger than Radiohead and that I thought they were a Radiohead rip-off. Plus like **Snarky\_Kong** , I could never stand _Yellow_ . But _Speed of Sound_ changed that. I looove that song. I never had any issue with some of the other Radiohead-lite bands like Travis, Muse or Snow Patrol. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/28 "2008-06-04T21:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I really like that new Coldplay song, Viva La Vida . OMG, how am I gonna break it to my peers? [/QUOTE] You think that’s bad? I like a Gwen Stefani song! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/29 "2008-06-04T21:39:19Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] Doesn’t Coldplay get a pass for being Radiohead Lite? [/QUOTE] I used to call them “Radiohead for nice people.” They’re not bad at all, but personally I don’t find them very edgy or interesting. Coldplay’s neither here nor there; I’m just sick of the word hipster. Nobody tells me what’s hip these days and I don’t want to know - but I hear no end of people complaining about X Y or Z because it’s supposedly what all the hipsters are doing now. I’m starting to wonder if these people exist at all, or if maybe these are just cases of people getting bitter when stuff they like gets popular. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/30 "2008-06-04T21:56:54Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] Doesn’t Coldplay get a pass for being Radiohead Lite?. . . [/QUOTE] Well to be fair, not even Radiohead came out of a vacuum; there’s a lot of Portishead and Jeff Buckley in Radiohead. Not that Radiohead didn’t take those influences and alchemized them into its own brand of gold. But still, to ding an artist for having influences is naive. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/31 "2008-06-04T23:08:29Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I’m just sick of the word hipster. Nobody tells me what’s hip these days and I don’t want to know - but I hear no end of people complaining about X Y or Z because it’s supposedly what all the hipsters are doing now. I’m starting to wonder if these people exist at all, or if maybe these are just cases of people getting bitter when stuff they like gets popular. [/QUOTE] Hipsters exist all right. Just walk through Bucktown or Wicker Park in Chicago. As an added bonus, visit a bar that serves PBR in a can. It’s what all the hipsters drink. You can see them in all their neo-retro-beatnik glory as they lament how tough their lives are because Mommy and Daddy didn’t give them a big enough trust fund. Granted, there really are a lot of great people who live in Wicker Park and Bucktown. They’re great neighborhoods. (Besides, the Map Room is one of the greatest bars in the nation.) ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/32 "2008-06-05T00:27:57Z")
There’s a David Foster Wallace essay where he says that being hip these days means not really liking anything. Sincerity is quaint and a little embarrassing. Detached, analytical deconstruction (especially if done with panache) is cool. He also points out that aspiring to detachment is a pretty empty and self-destructive way to live. That said, I’ll still take Radiohead or Death Cab for Cutie over Coldplay 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/33 "2008-06-05T00:31:00Z")
[QUOTE=Hoopy Frood] Hipsters exist all right. Just walk through Bucktown or Wicker Park in Chicago. As an added bonus, visit a bar that serves PBR in a can. [/QUOTE] It’s also possible that I know a good number of these people and just don’t recognize them that way. There’s supposed to be no shortage of them in New York City, although I think they are said to be looking away from my area. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/34 "2008-06-05T01:01:39Z")
I listen to Heavy Metal, Hard Rock and Punk. Damn it, but I like One Republic’s Stop and Stare. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/35 "2008-06-05T01:08:51Z")
You can’t be a proper hipster without at least one completely incongruous obsession with a popular band or artist. That way, when other hipsters fail to understand it, you can chalk it up to your clearly superior ability to spot quality in a sea of crap. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/36 "2008-06-05T01:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=exclamation!] I’m going through exactly the same thing. I also really like [Violet Hill](http://youtube.com/watch?v=IakDItZ7f7Q) as well. I think it’s the little soldier boy drums the do it for me, and the beat that circles my brain for ages. I…I think I might actually like Coldplay. [/QUOTE] That song is perhaps their best one to date, which makes it merely OK. If I talk about how I used to see AFI play live at the Berkeley Square, back when “AFI” stood for “Abuncha Fuckin’ Idiots” instead of “A Fire Inside”, and the Berkeley Square was a grungy little club that had yet to lose its liquor license and get turned into a furniture store, does that make me a hipster? ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/37 "2008-06-05T01:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] If I talk about how I used to see AFI play live at the Berkeley Square, back when “AFI” stood for “Abuncha Fuckin’ Idiots” instead of “A Fire Inside”, and the Berkeley Square was a grungy little club that had yet to lose its liquor license and get turned into a furniture store, does that make me a hipster? [/QUOTE] [hipster]It makes you someone who discovered a crappy band before anyone else.[/hipster] 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/38 "2008-06-05T01:34:06Z")
I like J-pop. That makes me a dangerous combination of hip and anti-hip. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/39 "2008-06-05T05:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dumbguy] There’s a David Foster Wallace essay where he says that being hip these days means not really liking anything. [/QUOTE] From what I can tell in the younger, hipper music boards I peruse, I get the sense that “hipness” these days is not quite not really liking anything, but more like liking a bit of everything, from obscure bands to Top 40 music. Acts like Justin Timberlake and Kylie Minogue get praised in the same breath as The Arcade Fire, M83, and Art Brut. The same people who hold their Sonic Youth and Galaxie 500 records dear will unironically defend Ashlee Simpson and Kelly Clarkson (hell, Pitchfork Media, probably the most obnoxiously hipster “cooler than thou” music website out there, gave “Since U Been Gone” four stars, calling it a “stroke of genius.”) At least this is the impression I get from the people in my life that I would consider hipsters. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753/40 "2008-06-05T05:26:44Z")
I thought Coldplay WAS a hipster band. Hm. Shows what I know. I just know that whenever someone mentions Coldplay, I assume “hipster.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hipsters-dilemma/451753.md?page=3)