Twenty One Pilots
A few years ago I wrote a post on a (now defunct) blog, wondering how twenty one pilots felt about being the modern music that aging Gen-Xers like myself can point to and say “look! I'm still cool! I like that band!”
Well, I still like that band. I've given up on claiming to be cool, but I still think they are!
I know I don't really have to sell the world on twenty one pilots as a band; they are popular and they do a great job of being themselves. But here's a few things I love about them.
Inspiring, Introspective Lyrics
One of the things I've loved is the introspection in TOP's lyrics. In Fairly Local. The first verse is a strong sense of depression, the second verse is a strong sense of redeem-ability:
Verse 1:
I'm evil to the core
What I shouldn't do I will
They say I'm emotional
What I want to save I'll kill
Is that who I truly am?
I truly don't have a chance
Tomorrow I'll keep a beat
And repeat yesterday's dance
Verse 2:
I'm not evil to the core
What I shouldn't do I will fight
I know I'm emotional
What I want to save I will try
I know who I truly am
I truly do have a chance
Tomorrow I'll switch the beat
To avoid yesterday's dance
It's not really clear why this is the message of the song, especially a song called “Fairly Local”. It should just be about...being from a place. But they end up writing a song that says “I can improve on who I am” and there have been times where I have genuinely drawn inspiration from that song.
Musicianship
Just watch their MTV Unplugged performance. Watch two guys on stage handle multiple keyboards, loops, and live performance, watching each other for changes and timing...it's good stuff, and the music they created on that stage was awesome.
I don't really have a closing statement. I'm 45 and I'm genuinely impressed by twenty one pilots. That's all.