Ben from PWR BTTM Is Apparently Trying to Make a Comeback Tomorrow
After being accused of predatory and abusive behavior in 2017, Ben Hopkins is trying to sneak back into the party. And you'll probably see an op-ed about it.
If you don’t remember PWR BTTM, I’m not going to spend too much digital ink on their past success. They sort of appeared out of nowhere in the mid 2010s, and for a while they were everywhere. The glittery duo was celebrated for their loose and riffy songs, catchy hooks and representation of the LGBTQIA+ community within indie music. Their first album, Ugly Cherries, got a pretty respectable 7.5 on Pitchfork. Generally, they were well-liked in the blogosphere.
Two days before the release much-hyped sophomore album, Pageant, someone went to Facebook to level credible allegations of predatory sexual behavior against guitarist/singer Ben Hopkins. Their label, Polyvinyl, immediately pulled the record, PWR BTTM released a statement acknowledging the abusive behavior, and they’ve been quiet ever since.
Today, while I was surfing Twitter, I saw a PR person that I follow mention that, among all of the shittiness in America right now, Hopkins is releasing a single tomorrow. It would not only be the first musical project from them since Pageant, it’s pretty much their first time peeking their head back into the world for three years.
And not only are they releasing a single, they’re releasing a grand gesture of a single that is longer than 7 minutes called “Laugh Track.”
After digging a little more, surely thinking this was some sort of misinformation, I found a string of damn fine detective work from Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz and Sad13 on Twitter.
My first reaction here was that it was immediate disappointment that publications like the NY Times, Billboard and NPR would just launder Hopkins’ reputation by putting this out, or that they’ve just selectively turned a blind eye to it. Thankfully, Sadie did the diligence necessary.
It’s also important to note that Sadie’s research confirms that not only is the single not being picked up by the Times or NPR, it also is very bad.
Why Hopkins thought this would be a good idea, especially given the current climate in America, is mind boggling. The answer is likely that they have not learned a thing from this experience, but that’s not my place to say. For another, why would they think that song, which is almost as long as “American Pie” (the longest song ever recorded) with a lyric pulled from a 6th grader’s poetry notebook, would resonate right now? And finally, it’s weird for the fact that most of the publication partnerships were disproven. The question now becomes whether NPR and the Times were originally attached and backed out, or whether this PR info is false.
But to speak for a lot of people here, I don’t think anyone is asking for this. Especially right now. Above all else, this is a startling lack of self awareness. This is a masterclass in not reading so, so many rooms. Without editorializing too much (though it is my newsletter and I’ll do what I want), it points to a blatant lack of any sort of actual change in character on Hopkins’ part. If they had actually taken the time to address this situation, rehabilitate themselves away from the music scene and eventually maybe,possibly return in a healthy way, this was not it. This was so incredibly far from it. I’m not sure that there is a right way for them to do it, either. But this certainly is not it.
And for what it’s worth, it looks like record labels have still stayed far away from this one. I did a quick search on “Debate Team Records,” and couldn’t find anything other than actual debate team information. So this looks like a self-release.
To speak very briefly on the actual music, I couldn’t find the song to confirm that it does, in fact, suck on an objective level. But, I’m pretty willing to trust Sadie’s research here.
And to continue speaking of the research Sadie did, there’s one outlet listed that didn’t deny its involvement: Billboard. According to the tweet, it looks like Billboard is tying an op-ed, which we can assume will be written by Hopkins, along with what we can assume is the premier of the song. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if that ends up going through, but it certainly seems that way. I haven’t seen enough public outcry or bad press attached to this to convince Billboard to, as Sadie put it, Cut That Shit Out. So as long as the PR info is accurate, it’s going to happen.
And I can’t imagine it goes well for any party involved. Not for Billboard, and not for Hopkins and not for you if you do decide to spend the 7 or so minutes on a song that apparently is not good.
EDIT: I have listened to the song, and I can verify that it’s basically a YouTube video of someone demoing a Loop Station pedal and legitimately saying “I am tired of being tired” for a third of the song.
Today’s Snakes and Sparklers musical guest is Phoebe Bridgers, who does not suck.
Yes, let's continue holding humans forever accountable to their past selves. People are in stasis forever and incapable of change, and thousand-word blog posts are needed to remind us of that. This rhetoric is exactly "what the country needs right now." Brendan, you're a judgmental prick and the exact kind of insufferable person who makes me recoil in horror every time I go to a live show.